


For Grace

by Galaxy_Collector



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, I can't find the right alternate universe trope, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jealous Negan (Walking Dead), Loosely based on some real life stuff, Mobster AU, Mobster Negan, Negan (Walking Dead) Being an Asshole, Negan (Walking Dead) Swears, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Non con is implied, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, angst whore, do I really need to say anything else?, except lots of angst, i love aus and angst, mafia boss negan, not depicted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-07-31 11:30:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20114392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxy_Collector/pseuds/Galaxy_Collector
Summary: Amelia Henry is the most sought after screenwriter in the industry, but it’s been a hard-won title. She’s had to fight through a maze of egos and assumptions about her abilities (or lack thereof) to get there. Sometimes she wonders if it’s all worth it, but in the end she knows she wouldn’t trade a second of her days for any other job in the world.That is until she meets Negan...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE: The first ten chapters are being rewritten because I wasn't in love with them. Also, I'm including some more smaller scenes and dialogue, so you might want to reread. 
> 
> This was inspired by my time in the entertainment industry. To preserve everyone's dignity, and my own anonymity, I used fanfic as my vehicle for the retelling of this spicy disaster I call a life.
> 
> Also, the warnings are for your own protection, but I will say that the rape/non-con is only implied and never depicted. Oh, and it's not Negan. It might sound like a spoiler, but I know those things can cause people to turn the other way (and I don't blame anyone for that), so just in case that was the only thing keeping you from reading the story, there it is.

Negan yawned wide and looked around the room. There was already way more people on this thing than he was used to, but it made sense. This was a way bigger production than anything he’d done before. And it was going to be the easiest too. He was uniquely qualified to handle the material this time, and that had made him both love and hate the script when it’d been flopped down in front of him initially. 

Rick kicked him under the table suddenly, jolting him back to the present, when he yawned again, which only elicited a scowl from Negan. He’d done a grand total of two movies with this fucker, but he wasn’t allowed to get away with  ** _that_ ** . No one was. He was tired, damnit, and he was going to yawn if he felt like it. Was it a tad unprofessional? Maybe, but so was the person currently holding them up. 

Daryl, the new guy onboard, kept looking over Negan’s way, and he wondered exactly what Rick had let slip. He obviously thought Negan was scary. Everytime he caught Daryl staring, his eyes would dart around trying to find something else to focus on. It was a little funny, but Negan was nice enough not to voice that fact. Besides, he needed at least one guy on set to be scared of him or he got bored. And a bored Negan was a dangerous one. 

“What the hell are we waitin’ for anyway?” Negan asked, leaning forward. 

“Amelia Henry.”

Someone had answered him clearly, but he couldn’t pinpoint the voice and he didn’t recognize it either. Apparently, this made complete sense to everyone else, though. He, however, was lost. Even the person who had said her name spoke it with reverence, which made Negan want to throw up. She, whoever she was, demanded respect. And he wanted to like her for that, but it was hard when she was late. She didn’t seem very responsible or professional. Being a woman in this business, that didn’t seem like a smart move. 

With each passing minute and no news, he started to get more and more restless. People weren’t usually in the habit of wasting his time. 

Finally, after another hour ticked by slowly, a woman walked in and slammed her stuff down on the table across from him. His eyes got wide at her demeanor before he could stop himself. She was irritated? Was she serious? She’d let them all wait for close to two hours with no phone call or updates.  ** _She_ ** was mad? No fucking way was this real. Time meant money in this industry. Period. 

“How’d it go?” Ezra asked to his left. 

“Well,” she started, dragging out each syllable, “I had to get past all the dudes on their power trips, but I managed.” 

“Get your way?” Daryl quipped. 

“You know I did.” She winked. 

The smug look on her face was too much for him. He was so close to losing his shit in a room full of people. 

“Don’t you always?” Rick added. 

“And that’s supposed to be an excuse?” Negan questioned. 

She blinked rapidly as she turned her head his direction. He’d stunned her by his outburst, which was exactly what he wanted. No one got to act like this. Not around him. He had to rectify the situation and put himself back in the spot he belonged. On top. He was in charge here. The end. 

“It’s not an excuse. It’s what happened,” she replied sweetly, a fake smile plastered all over her face. “And you are?”

He barked his laughter. She knew damn well who he was. She was fucking with him. She probably thought he deserved it too, for calling her out like that, but he didn’t understand why it was important they wait for her at all. 

“Negan,” he stated simply after a moment. 

“No last name?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Cute.”

She flipped open a notebook and went to sit down when he spoke again, causing her to stop her movements. She didn’t need to be comfortable anyway. 

“It is cute, but you know what’s not? Leavin’ a room full of people waiting for over an hour with no word. And then you come in here like you own the place and make some sexist joke about power trippin’ assholes? You know we’re not all the same, right? But you seem to think so, which means we have a problem. I don’t know if I wanna work in an environment like that.” 

The smirk got more pronounced the longer he talked, making him angrier. He’d purposely kept his voice down because he knew how intimidating it was when he yelled, but he was seconds away now. 

Rick and Daryl both scooted back from the table as he finished, and then, one by one, so did everyone else. Any other time, Negan would laugh, but this wasn’t funny. 

She leaned over her stuff and looked him square in the eye. “If you have a problem with me, or the way I run things, you can leave.”

“You can’t fire me,” he retorted.    
  
He sat back slowly and let his chair come up on the two back legs as he folded his arms over his chest in defiance. There was no way she wielded that kind of power. The only reason she was getting into a dick-measuring contest with him was because she felt threatened. A common occurrence around Negan. At the end of the day, though, she was a woman in Hollywood. She didn’t have the capital. In fact, on a normal day Negan would have felt bad for her. But not today. Not here. 

“She can,” Ezra squeaked nearby. 

Negan’s mouth fell open a little, but he righted his expression quickly. Ezra was their link to the studio, so if he said she was in charge, she was in charge. In fact, Ezra, Rick, and Daryl were the only people he even knew here. 

Negan was wrong. 

Just how wrong would be up to her to decide. 

“Listen, Cher, you can get down off that little pedestal everyone else has put you on and work. Like everybody else, okay? Or there’s the door. Got it?”

She waited for him to respond, but he figured it was best to be quiet. He didn’t do apologies, for one thing, and she’d given him an option. A man in her position wouldn’t have been so kind and he knew that. He’d just nodded, hoping that she knew that was the most she was going to get out of him in terms of swallowing his pride. 

Everyone else scooted back to the table after a second and started to pull their scripts out, waiting for her to give the word. She, clearly undeterred by his outburst, went straight into thanking everyone for being there and letting them all know how excited she was to get started on her movie. 

Her fucking movie. 

God, he was an idiot. 

Negan proceeded to read all his lines carefully as they began, making sure to concentrate as best he could on the task at hand. He even hammed it up for the camera that was recording some behind-the-scenes footage common in extra features these days. 

She, of course, proceeded to watch him carefully. He hoped he was showing her that he deserved to be there, even if he hadn’t acted like it a second ago. They probably wouldn’t get along, he decided, but that wasn’t important. If she could be an adult about this, so could he. 

They eventually broke for lunch and he tried to corner her, but Ezra jumped up and escorted her out before he had time to say anything. He waited a couple of minutes and then excused himself, hoping to step in for her if he needed to. 

The top billed actor and the head writer getting into it in the first few minutes wasn’t a look the studio was probably going for here. Even if she could hold her own, they’d pick him over her, which wasn’t exactly fair. Especially since he had started it. Now that his anger had dissipated, he felt like a dumbass. She probably  ** _did_ ** have to deal with dipshits all day and he had made her job that much harder. 

“Ezra, stop. You can’t do this.” He walked faster toward the source of the noise, recognizing her voice. “Not when we’re this close, okay? Come on. Please. Pretty please.”

“Amelia, listen, it’s not worth it and you know it.”

She groaned loudly and he went to open the door, squaring his shoulders. 

“Listen, Ms. Henry, we understand you picked him for very specific reasons, but we can’t reward this type of behavior, all right? If it’s as bad as Ezra claims, it’s not going to get better, I’m afraid.” 

“I get it. I understand,” she interrupted. “But I wrote this whole movie with him in mind. I’ve never had another actor in my head for his role. It’s  ** _his_ ** role. No one can do it like him. Sure, he’s kind of a douche canoe, but whatever. I’ve dealt with that plenty of times. We’ll be fine.”

“You think you can calm him down? Really? Negan?”

They were talking about firing  ** _him_ ** . Not her. And she was going to bat for him. To top it off she’d written it just for him, which was incredibly flattering for any actor. Damn, he’d pegged her all wrong. No wonder everyone was in love with her. She was more concerned with the movie than her feelings being hurt. A rarity in this town for sure. 

“I can handle Negan,” she returned. “It’s fine. Just… don’t open up casting again, okay? Don’t. He can do this.  ** _I_ ** can do this.”

“We have complete faith in  ** _you_ ** ,” Ezra clarified. 

“Thank you.”

Negan scooted back from the door as she was dismissed. He didn’t have enough time to make himself scarce, so he stood with his back to the wall waiting for her. She was still deep in conversation with Ezra when they made their way into the hallway, but they locked eyes as she came out of the room. 

Ezra excused himself quickly and all but ran back to the conference room. With her heels on, they were almost the same height, which Negan realized was probably the point. But he still had her by a couple of inches. He stayed up against the wall for that reason too. He wanted to be as unassuming as possible for what came next.

“Listen, I’m…” he started. 

“No, you don’t get to talk,” she said, folding her arms this time. “I talk. You listen. I know you heard that, but if you don’t pull your head outta your ass, I will fire you. Got it?” 

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, giving her a mock salute. 

He pushed off the wall and stalked back to the conference room behind Ezra. He didn’t know why he felt the need to do that, but something about her tone set his nerve endings on fire. He wanted to scream, punch something, or both. Definitely both. Something about her made him go from zero to a hundred in nothing flat. She was absolutely infuriating, and there was jack shit he could do about it. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Negan sent them back again,” Virginia huffed, anger dripping off every word. 

“I don’t care,” Amelia replied flatly.

“Well, he said he’s not going to do them.”

“Again, I do not care.”

Virginia huffed again before turning on her heel and making her way back to the set where, Amelia presumed, she was going to go hunt down Negan and explain the situation. No matter what he thought, he wasn’t allowed to dictate anymore of the script. The fact that he’d had any input whatsoever was new for her, but as much as she hated to admit it, he was right about most of it. 

She kind of felt bad about making her personal assistant, Virginia, deal with him directly, but she knew better than to do it herself. Every single time they were alone for more than five seconds, they were at each other’s throats. Even so, she still wouldn’t trade him out with anyone either. She couldn’t tell him that again, which was why she was genuinely starting to hate how good he was. It made it so much harder. Anything less than perfect and she would’ve sent him on his way already. But no. He stepped in front of the camera and he ** _was_ ** her character. 

Her phone started to ring and, thankfully, pulled her out of that train of thought before she got too far into her head with all this. She didn’t bother to look at the caller ID as she put it to her ear. 

“Yep?”

“Ms. Henry, how the hell are ya?” Negan drawled. 

“What do you want, Cher?”

“I’m not saying this shit,” he said. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she stopped taking notes and stared ahead, deciding she was going to give this whole ‘reasoning-with-him’ thing a shot before she gave up completely. 

“You have to,” she answered, sounding bored. “I write the words. You say them. That’s how it works.”

“It’s wrong.”

She clenched and unclenched her fists a couple of times, steadying herself before opening her mouth again. “What ** _exactly_ ** is wrong?”

“The whole section with the gun is completely off. No one does that shit anymore. And…” 

“How would you know that?”

“I did my research,” he retorted. 

“So did I!” she screamed back. “So did I, Negan. I’m good at my job. Now, stop being a baby and do yours.”

Once again, she had gone into the conversation with him with a level head and ended up in some foreign territory where she was going insane for what looked like no reason at all. 

“Well, what about the next page?” he kept up. “Because…”

“If you want to go over the script, come to my trailer. I hate doing this over the phone with you.”

“Can’t get enough of me, huh?” he cackled. 

She knew he couldn’t see it, but she flipped off the air as he started to laugh harder at her silence. “Are you coming or not?”

“Why? You gotta send your boyfriend away or something?”

“Exactly. That’s what I do when I’m not running this whole damn set. I’m literally fucking around. You caught me,” she replied dryly. 

“This script tells me that, darlin’,” he teased. 

“I’m hanging up now.”

As soon as she did, she could hear him laughing nearby. It was like he’d been waiting for an excuse to bug her. 

He, at least, had the decency to knock lightly a couple of times before letting himself in, though he didn’t bother to wait for a response. Which, of course, didn’t make her want to rip out his eyeballs or anything. 

He laid down his script on the small, linoleum table she had her elbows and laptop propped on. She’d been poring over own her marked-up version that she’d just received back from the rest of her writer’s room. 

“That one from the studio?” he asked. 

“Yep.”

“Can I look?”

“Nope.”

She pulled his version on top of the other and scanned his notes. Or she pretended to so he’d leave her alone. Despite what she had said, they were very detailed and mostly correct. The problem was that the studio was only concerned with what looked cool. They didn’t give a shit about being authentic. He didn’t need to know any of that and at the end of the day it still didn’t explain why he cared so much about the accuracy. No one else in the world was going to care about the thing he was picking at. He was doing it to get on her nerves and, unfortunately, it was working pretty well. 

“Negan, can we just…”

“Whatever you’re gonna say, the answer is no. I’m that fucker, okay? I did my research and I don’t make a habit of looking like an idiot for anyone.”

“If you look like one, so do I,” she reasoned. “I don’t make a habit of it either.”

“I can tell that, doll, which is why I’m just trying to help.”

“This is you helping?” she scoffed. 

He pursed his lips and shook his head once before jerking his script back. He did it all so quickly it actually startled her, but not enough to make her care. 

“No, come back,” she mumbled to herself sarcastically as he stalked out the door. 

She thought she heard him mumble something back, but she couldn’t be sure, and she definitely wasn’t going to stop working to check on his potentially bruised ego. They didn’t have time for any type of setbacks. Negan was going to put them on a path that led to rewrites and the studio would hate every second of it. Some of the stuff she’d incorporate so he’d shut up, and because he was right, but she couldn’t do that with all of them. They couldn’t pivot that close to actual shooting. They didn’t have the resources. And she was still a woman. It was almost like he was pushing her to overstep the invisible boundary line she always toed just by being herself. 

Amelia groaned loudly, breaking up the silence of her trailer as she laid her head down on the table. She was getting a headache again, and she blamed Negan. She did that for most things these days, fair or not. 

She just needed to get over it. Or, rather, have Negan get over himself. 

_ Fat fucking chance _, she thought. 

But instead of dwelling on it any further, she tucked herself into the reading in front of her, determined to get this done so she could go home before two in the morning this time. 

* * *

Rick bumped her shoulder playfully as they sat next to each other behind the camera. She had one of her ears free and the other covered by the noise-canceling headphones that let her only hear what the actors in front of her were saying. She couldn’t be as close as she wanted and still stay out of the shot, so this was how she compromised with herself. 

A completely standard set-up for most, but Negan made sure to point out how lazy it made her look for even having a chair. At first, she’d made a point not to use it, but now she didn’t care. He was getting in her head and she couldn’t let that happen. Well, she couldn’t let it happen ** _anymore_ **. 

What really concerned her, though, was how he was able to do it at all. No one else had ever come this close to getting under her skin for real, but with one look Negan was able to send her flying over the rails. She couldn’t brush him off or tune him out like she’d done all the other assholes. And being made to feel crazy wasn’t helping her mood. 

“Ready, sweetheart?” Negan asked loudly. 

“Yes, dollface,” Rick hollered back for her, using one of Negan’s favorite nicknames. 

Amelia forced herself to laugh, making Negan roll his eyes as he waited for her to call action. She did it right after, but made sure to wait a few extra seconds. She had to exert her dominance as much as possible. And these little microaggressions between them kept her sane in the weirdest way. 

Then she was doing what she knew she shouldn’t be. Watching him. She knew she was gawking too. She couldn’t help it. He was ** _that_ ** good. It wasn’t fair. She wanted to hate him properly, loathe him even. And in between takes, she did. But when she called action, all bets were off. 

“Cut,” she screamed, making him stop. “One more.”

“One more,” he mocked. 

_ There he is _ , she reminded herself. _ Being an asshole. _

At the very least, his childish behavior kept her from ending up in a dangerous area. Because as much as she wanted not to look, she was and she did. And he was attractive. There was no use denying it. Anyone with eyes could see. But at least the way they made each other crazy helped keep her head on straight. It was good for something, she guessed. 

“Ignore him. He’s only being like that because he knows it gets to you,” Rick offered. 

“I can bother him just as effectively,” she countered. 

Rick’s laughter boomed off the walls of the tiny tent. “Yes, I know. You guys are gettin’ intense in your little world, but really, it’s not that serious. Besides, is it worth the hassle of burying a body?” 

“Wait, what?” 

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about killing him. Fantasized even?”

“When does Daryl get to set?” Amelia asked unexpectedly, forcing a subject change. 

“Uh, tomorrow morning, I think. Why?”

“Because you’re over here putting ideas in my head and I don’t need that. You are literally no help.”

He pretended to look scandalized before stomping away. He came right back, which only made her laugh harder. “Kidding. I mean, do you know how hard it is for me to find work at my age?”

“Your age?” she asked, perking an eyebrow at him. “First off, you’re a guy. That’s not a thing. Second, you’re ** _not_ ** that old.”

“Old enough to be your dad,” he inserted. 

“Not even close. But now I’m concerned you don’t have any concept of how old ** _I_ ** am.”

“25 or so, right?”

“You think I’m 25?” she wheezed. “25 years old? Really? Oh my God, I love you.”

“Who do you love? And do I need to schedule a wedding?” Virginia interrupted out of nowhere. 

“Calm down there, ** _mom_ **.”

“What?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders. “I want cute babies to play with.”

“You’re not gettin’ them outta me,” Amelia explained, turning her attention back to Negan. “Ready?”

“Been ready, sweetheart.”

“Ms. Henry,” she corrected. “Or you can call me ma’am… if that’s better.”

“It is not,” he replied, hands on his hips now. 

He gave her one last look that told her to shut up, but unfortunately for him, she had no intention of making his life easier. And it was a little fun nothing that she got under his skin too. Okay, a lot of fun. 

The great and powerful Negan, brought to his knees. 

Right where he belonged, in her opinion. 

She gave him a final smirk before calling action, knowing that no matter how good he did this time she’d make him do another. It was the only way she could keep the upper hand with him. She had to remind him at every possible opportunity that this was her set. Her playground. Her rules. 

“Goddamnit, Negan, stop it!” 

She whipped off the headphones and threw them back in her chair as she stood up. 

“What?” he laughed, feigning ignorance. 

“Stop improvising your lines. Now.”

“Mine are better,” he taunted. 

“They are ** _not_ **,” she responded petulantly. 

“I know you’ve never had a guy on set that could handle himself like I can. I get that it’s hard, sweetheart, but just deal with it. I’m not sayin’ this corny shit. Not. Gonna. Happen.”

“It’s not corny,” she said, storming towards him. “And stop calling me sweetheart.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender, a huge grin on his face, as she made her way through the crowded scene to him. Her tiny fists were balled up again at her side, and without her heels on, she just looked like a child standing next to his much taller frame. 

She was shaking with fury as she stood there, but it didn’t seem to register with him. Instead, he leaned down close to her ear, put his hands on the tops of her arms, and whispered where no one else could hear him. 

“I don’t think you have the luxury of actin’ like this. You might have them fooled, but not me. You’re just a scared little girl who doesn’t think she’s good enough to be here. I’m just the only one smart enough to notice.” 

He leaned back slowly and it took everything she had not to slap him across his smug face. Rick was now close enough that if he’d spoken any louder, he would have heard him too. Which was good. Because he was there to catch her around the waist as she lunged for Negan’s throat. 

He walked away cackling as she continued to scream in his general direction. Rick made sure to walk her back to the tent, refusing to put her back on her feet until she was in her seat again. He was probably convinced she was going to make a run for it. Not that she blamed him. 

She sat there for a second, arms folded tightly, as she waited for them to reset the scene. The tears that sprang to her eyes made them sting uncomfortably, but she didn’t dare blink for fear they’d fall down her cheeks and betray exactly how frustrated she was right now. 

When she realized how long it was going to take, and how close she was to a proper freak out, she headed back to her trailer. Rick jumped up when she did and stayed a couple of steps behind her until she was inside. She’d have to thank him later for helping her keep her job. 

As soon as she slammed the door shut, she started to throw things around. Anything within arm’s reach was flung with as much intensity as she could muster. She was happy all of her electronics were safely in front of the monitor, next to Virginia. Nothing was sacred in this moment. 

After a second, she managed to tire herself out a bit, and she stood in the middle of her mess with her chest heaving violently. A gentle knock sounded and she thought, for a split second, of ignoring it. In actuality, she was mostly worried it was Negan, and she had no idea what she’d do to him if he showed up right now. 

“Hey,” Rick said quietly, peeking his head in. “You good?”

She had her hands on her hips, and when he asked that she just cocked her head to the side and motioned to the chaos around her trailer. 

“No,” she admitted. 

“Come here,” he commanded. 

He held out his arms as he shut the door and she shook her head. If she fell apart now, she wouldn’t be able to go back out in front of all those people. She couldn’t lose her resolve like that. Not here. Her badass front, as Negan had so eloquently put it, was all she had left. 

“He just makes me so, so…”

“I know,” he answered, his arms still open. “Come on. Seriously. It’s okay.”

“No one talks to me like that,” she continued, ignoring him as he walked closer still. “Nobody. I’ve done my time, Rick. I’ve put up with all that sexist bullshit. I shouldn’t have to…” 

“No, you shouldn’t,” he interrupted. “It’s not fair. It’s not. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not ** _your_ ** fault,” she whispered. 

She sat down hard on the tiny couch finally and he copied her movements, forcing her into a hug. She let one solitary tear escape, but refused to waste anymore on that bastard. He wasn’t here, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d ever gotten to her on any level. Well, more than she already had. 

“If I kill him, will you still help me hide the body?” she asked quietly after a moment. 

“Definitely. Daryl too. I’m pretty sure he has a crush on you, actually.”

She laughed and sat back up. “You’re so stupid,” she answered, wiping her eyes. 

“It’s why you love me.”

“True.”

She stared at him hard for a second and leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Then she stood up and pulled him along with her. 

“Come on. Let’s go crack some skulls. I’ll clean this up later.”

“Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head. “I leave the skull cracking to you, my dear.”

“Why, thank you,” she smiled. 

And before she knew it they were in their places again and everyone was almost ready to go. She pulled her headphones back on and motioned for everyone to get back to their marks, a huge smile on her face. She even made sure to blow a kiss to Negan. He scowled back. 

Rick hid his laughter with a well-placed cough when he saw their exchange and she gave him a wink. She turned back to Negan, who looked like he was ready to murder Rick, and called action, forcing him to scramble into character.   
  
Then she watched him intently, as she always did, forever hating how good he was and how great he looked in that suit.


	3. Chapter 3

Negan hopped down off the last step that led out of his trailer and smiled over at Rick and Daryl. The latter had even managed to comb his damn hair for the occasion, which was nice of him. 

“Damn, boys, you clean up nice,” Negan chuckled. “Where we going?”

Rick slapped him on the back and motioned toward the limo that was waiting just outside the border that the trailers created. Negan whistled low at the sight, not realizing it was like that. He couldn’t be happier. Especially with how long the shoots were getting lately and how weird the hours had gotten. 

The fact that Amelia had given them the night off was more than a little surprising, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud and remind her either. 

“So, whose dick did you have to suck to get us a night off, Rick?” Negan asked, knowing the answer. 

“Amelia’s,” he smirked. 

“Is it bigger than mine?” he joked, sliding across the long bench seat.

“Definitely.”

Negan laughed loudly as he poured each of them a drink as soon as they were off. The champagne was chilled to perfection, and he wasn’t one to let alcohol go to waste. 

They bullshitted about nothing in particular as they drove through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. They hardly managed to talk about anything that didn’t relate to the next scene anymore, so it was a nice change. He knew why they ran things the way they did on set, but some days it would’ve been nice to break up the monotony with some non-work talk too. Not that Amelia would let that kind of thing slide. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take long until they were outside the club, and they were basically buzzing with excitement. But when he peered down the sidewalk from the tinted windows, he realized someone must’ve ratted them out. The paparazzi were out in full force. 

With just one of them, it was a circus, but with all three it was going to be straight chaos. The fact that they’d been cast in the same movie certainly wasn’t going to help matters either. Not with how tight-lipped they had to be about the storyline. There was a reason they didn’t make a habit of this. Everyone wanted something from them lately. 

He knew this was his job, but he hated this part. The fans were fine. A little grabby, sure, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He didn’t like that they hadn’t thought far enough ahead to bring some security or something, though, but it didn’t matter now. They were here and they weren’t turning around. 

Negan mentally calculated the distance to the door in case it got too bad, but he made sure to stop for a few pictures with fans and autographs along the line leading inside. Rick and Negan even ended up having to pull Daryl along with them after a while. 

“Hey!” he whined. “No one ever wants to take ** _my_ ** picture. Couldn’t let me have that?”

“That’s not true,” Negan reminded him. “You’re just new. You’ll get tired of it one day.”

“Doubtful,” he retorted. 

Negan rolled his eyes and put his arm around Daryl’s shoulders, steering him toward the bar and pointing at the gyrating throng of people on the dance floor. 

“Take your pick,” Negan joked. 

Daryl’s mouth fell open and Negan and Rick laughed at his expression. 

“Damn, son, don’t get out much, do ya? Rick, what you been keepin’ him all locked up for?”

“I’m afraid he’s gonna turn into you,” Rick explained, grabbing a drink from a passing waitress. 

Negan did the same a couple seconds later and emptied his glass quickly. He scanned the room and found a booth for them to set up camp in, deciding it was better to let the crowd come to them instead of standing out in the open like this. 

Every half hour or so, Negan and Rick would take a quick survey of the area and make sure they weren’t being filmed. So far, it seemed people were respecting this side of their privacy. Which was a good thing for Daryl, who was enjoying himself a little too much for a semi-public place. Several women were basically laying across his lap, at this point. 

“So,” Rick began, “wanna talk about Amelia now or wait until you’re ** _really_ ** drunk?”

Negan knew this was coming, but he was shocked it’d taken Rick this long to bring it up. He’d been expecting an intervention-style situation. Not that this wasn’t great, because it was certainly better than the alternative. It was nice of Rick to take them all out to soften the blow too. If it’d been the other way around, Negan would have been much less subtle about it. 

“Not gonna be drunk enough for that ever,” he mumbled finally. 

Rick chuckled quietly and moved his glass back and forth on the table as he thought of the best way to approach the topic. 

“Listen,” he sighed. “You gotta stop, okay? She doesn’t deserve all the hell you’re givin’ her.”

“I know,” Negan said. 

“Then why? Why do you keep this shit up? Why stress yourself out like this?”

Negan ran his hands over his face before staring out in the crowd absentmindedly. “I… I don’t know. She just makes me so fucking crazy sometimes. I can’t help it. I swear I’m not usually like this.” 

“I know that too,” Rick said. “And neither is she. She’s actually a sweetheart, which is probably hard for you to see, but she is. Honestly, I would love to just lock you two in a room and let you go at it, but I’m sure the studio would frown on that.”

“That’s rude,” Negan admitted. “I mean, she’s not very big, but I’m pretty sure she could kill me with her bare hands.”

Daryl laughed, rejoining the conversation, “Dude, that is so ** _not_ ** what he’s sayin’.”

Negan gave him a funny look and then turned to Rick for an explanation. But all he did was stare back at Negan like it was completely obvious.

“I don’t get it,” Negan said finally, throwing his hands up. 

“The sexual tension is going to drown us all,” Rick explained in a flat tone. 

“Sexual tension? Are you shittin’ me? There’s absolutely no way in Hell. I have no idea how you got there. Either of you morons. I just… I can’t…” 

He was stammering like an idiot and decided it was best to let his words drift off into nothingness. Not because they were right. No, they couldn’t be more wrong, in fact. Their assessment had just blindsided him. 

Amelia and Negan had never not been at each other’s throats during the day and they didn’t utter two words to each other that didn’t relate to work. If they were talking, it was usually more like yelling, so the fact that Rick and Daryl and God knows who else had gotten to sexual tension was baffling. 

“Uh-huh. Okay,” Rick said after another second. 

The way Negan had responded had clearly been proof enough for him, but Negan doubled down. “There is no way. I’m serious.”

“Regardless,” Rick interrupted, “you gotta calm down or she’s going to fire you for real.” 

“She wouldn’t do that,” Negan shrugged. “I’m too good. And she knows it.” 

“She has limits.”

Negan nodded curtly as Daryl felt the need to get his two cents in as well. “Maybe, but you’re a big dude and if she does kill you, it’s up to me and Rick to hide the body, so maybe don’t make us do that okay?”

Negan laughed at Daryl’s suddenly brazen attitude and shook his head. “Fine. I will ** _try_ ** to calm down. Okay?” 

“Better than I thought I was gonna get,” Rick said. 

Negan bit the inside of his cheek as Daryl turned back to the girl he’d been wrapped around a second before and Rick got quiet again. He was leaving Negan to his thoughts. And he was right on some of the fronts. He did need to stop. It didn’t matter what she said. Not really. Because at the end of the day, he didn’t want to be known as ** _that guy_ **. The one who was impossible to work with. That guy didn’t get any work. And if she was really as sweet to everyone else as Rick claimed it’d blow back on him. He just needed to survive a couple more months and then it’d be over. He could do that. He’d move onto something new and he’d never have to see her again. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, causing him to jolt upright. He downed the new drink in front of him knowing he didn’t want to be sober for whatever came next. Knowing Amelia, she was calling them back to set before they could get into any real trouble. 

But then he read the message. And read it again before sighing in disbelief. It wasn’t Amelia after all, but he had to go anyway. 

“You leavin’?” Rick asked, motioning toward his phone. 

“Yeah,” Negan frowned. “Thanks, man. For inviting me. I promise not to skip out so early next time.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rick waved him off. “Besides, I should probably get this one back before he runs off to Vegas and gets married.”

He chuckled lightheartedly, forcing the sentiment the best he could and hoping Rick didn’t catch on. “Well, gentlemen, thank you. Daryl, try not to get arrested.”

Daryl gave Negan a thumbs up, but didn’t remove his lips from the unknown woman’s neck. Negan was still laughing to himself as he made it back outside, posing for a few more photos. Unable to hold off any longer, he walked straight for the new car waiting for him. It was about to be a long damn night and Negan wanted no part of it. Too bad he didn’t have a choice. 

* * *

Negan stumbled through the door of his trailer, knowing full well that he was way past the time he was slated to be there. The fact that he’d made it all the way there without someone spotting him was some kind of miracle. One he would gladly accept. 

He was scrubbing his filthy hands clean when Amelia burst through the door, not ten minutes later. 

“You’re late,” she spat at him. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled. 

He heard her jaw hit the floor at his apology. It wasn’t something she’d probably ever heard him say before, and it’d certainly never been directed at her. They didn’t exactly have that kind of relationship. 

“You, uh, you haven’t even made it to hair and makeup yet? Did you just get here?”

It had caused her to stumble, and lose some of her momentum and anger, but Negan sensed it was on the rise again. His half-assed apology wasn’t enough to really keep her from doing what she came in here to do. 

“Yep.”

“Well, don’t try to blame it on your late night, because both Rick and Daryl managed to show up on time.”

“I said I was sorry,” he snarled, not turning around. 

“And I don’t give a shit. Get over to hair and makeup. Right the fuck now.”

She slammed the door as hard as she could on the way out, making the whole trailer shake, and he growled his frustration loudly. Today was not the day for this shit. He’d dealt with too much the night before, getting absolutely no sleep, and now he was apparently in for a full day of fighting with her. He could already tell he wasn’t going to be able to keep his promise to Rick if she kept it up. 

He dried his hands off and threw the dish towel he was using for drying as hard as he could, not caring where it landed. Then he started to pace. He knew he looked like a deranged animal, but he didn’t care and he wasn’t sure what else to do to burn off this anxious energy. He steadied himself on the counter after a second, trying to calm his racing heart. And it worked. For the most part. 

Then the images from last night started to creep their way back in and he was finding it harder and harder to keep them at bay. He had to go out there and say he was sick or something. He needed the day off. 

But, before he knew what was happening, he found himself in wardrobe with his nerves completely frayed. He was snapping at everyone. So much so that he started a countdown in his head to the time he was sure Amelia was going to come barrelling through the door to hand him his ass again. Not that it was anyone’s fault but his own. And it’s not like she’d be all that out of line for it either. He just knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold his tone like he usually did and he wasn’t sure where that would leave them after the dust settled. He was more scared than anything to really and truly get in a fight with Amelia Henry. 

When he was pricked by another needle as they hemmed his pants he pushed past the wardrobe assistant and made a break for his trailer. He was seconds away from screaming, and he didn’t want to take it out on anyone. Despite what people probably thought right now, he wasn’t ** _that_ ** big of an asshole. 

As he broke free of the small room, he plowed into Amelia, who had been on the other side of the door. He made sure he steadied her before he kept up his pace toward his sanctuary. 

At least his countdown had been right. 

“Negan! Negan! Stop! You can’t…,” she called after him. 

“I can, sweetheart,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Leave me the fuck alone, okay? You can give it to me later. I’m just… not right now.”

He pulled the door closed behind him and walked the length of the small trailer in two long strides, just about the time that Amelia made it in as well. 

He had his hands propped up on the counters on either side of him, fighting to remain calm. 

“Negan,” she sighed, “this is too much. I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. Let’s just be done, okay? You can’t keep this up. I can’t keep this up. I’ll call the studio and get you on another project or something. We can’t work together. That’s pretty clear, so…”

“What?” he shrieked. “No. No way. You don’t get to give up because it’s a little hard, doll. I didn’t put up with your shit this whole time for nothing. So, suck it up.”

“My shit? My shit? You know what? I’ll pay for damn reshoots myself. And you already got paid so let’s just cut our losses here.”

“Oh, I know you have the money, but that’s not what this is about,” he scoffed. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not like you have a life outside this set or the fucking studio. You don’t have a family or friends, unless you count Virginia, and I hope to God you don’t because that’s just sad. So what exactly ** _would_ ** you spend your money on, huh? And we all know you can’t have fun. Ever.”

“Fuck. You. Negan.”

“Oops. Did I touch a nerve, baby?” he cooed. 

He didn’t know how it happened, but suddenly he found himself right in front of her. He hadn’t even meant to move in her direction, but here he was pinning her up against the small table in the kitchenette. He was close enough now that he could feel her breathing against the bare section of his chest that wasn’t covered by the loose shirt he was still wearing from wardrobe. 

And she was trying desperately to hang onto any sense of calm and rational thought she might’ve had before she walked in here, but it was unraveling quickly. He could tell. 

Then, without any warning, he was picking her up and placing her on the table. Then her lips were on his and her fingers were snaking their way into his hair and pulling not-so-gently at the ends. He moaned low into her mouth at the feeling, letting his tongue explore every inch of it. 

_ What the fuck is happening right now? _ his brain screamed. 

And better yet, why didn’t he care? This wasn’t at all what he thought was in the realm of possibilities, but in this moment it was the only thing he could concentrate on. Especially with the way his hands were melding into the curves of her body so perfectly. 

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he moved back until he was carrying her to the bed stationed in the back. Neither of them bothered to stop and figure out what all this meant. It was too late anyway. The point of no return was about thirty seconds behind them now, and it wasn’t like she was saying no.


	4. Chapter 4

Negan searched for his shirt, finally finding it behind his TV after a minute. He wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but it wasn’t exactly his biggest concern right now. 

“Are we gonna… talk about this?” he asked quietly. 

“Absolutely not,” she huffed. “Why would we?”

“Well, you see, that’s usually what happens when two consenting adults randomly have sex in the middle of the day ** _while they’re at work_ **,” he hissed. 

“I don’t think that’s a rule,” she said, breezing past him. 

He grabbed her arm, making sure not to jostle her. “I’m making it one.”

“I don’t care, Negan. We’re not talking about this. It happened. It’s over. It’s not happening again. Let’s get back to work, okay?”

She moved out of his grasp and continued to pull on her own discarded pieces of clothing as she went. 

“So… you’re not firing me?”

She turned back to him slowly, trying to get her shoes on as she hopped on one foot. “No. I’m not firing you, jackass.”

“But it’s not happening again?” She shook her head. “Are you sure? Because I distinctly remember you asking me to…”

She smirked. “Seriously, Negan. Never again. We can’t. Stop it.”

He bit his lip as she bent over, pulling her shirt over her head. He tried to dislodge the image of the way she’d looked moments before as she was bent over the end of the couch in front of him. He was trying to concentrate on what she was saying next, but the sounds of skin slapping against skin rang in his ears and drowned out her voice for a minute. 

“Negan,” she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face, “come on. We have to get back to set. You’re still not ready, remember?”

“What? Oh, uh, yeah. Okay.”

“Are you going to be able to do this?”

“Yes?”

She laughed quietly and put her hands over her face. “That’s not supposed to be a question, asshole.”

He stood up slowly, pushing away from the bed, and stood in front of her. “I can do this. Promise. What I can’t promise, however, is that I won’t think about it anymore. Especially that think you did with your hips when you…” 

She slapped his arm playfully and stared at him hard before laughing louder, making him smile. What in the world was going on? Was this really all they needed to do, like Rick had said? Pound one out real quick and they were good? It couldn’t possibly be that simple, could it? 

“And I want you to know I can last longer than that,” he added. 

“So can I.”

“When? The first time? Or the second time? Oh no, wait, the third time?”

She shook her head and fought not to smile again as she adjusted her blouse. “Get to wardrobe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, bending down to kiss her lips. “Right away, boss lady.”

It took her another second before she opened her eyes again, but when she did she headed straight for the door without a backward glance at him. He wanted to be frustrated and angry at the idea of being used like that, but he knew he’d let her do it again and again if that’s what she wanted. He had no idea he could flip so quickly, but then again he’d never had sex with Amelia before either. 

He groaned loudly, rubbing himself over his pants as he stood there alone, reminiscing about the way she smelled pressed up against him. He was still in shock that it had happened at all. It was the middle of the day with a thousand or so people milling around set. But that hadn’t mattered to either of them. The only thing that had meant anything in those moments was the way she tasted and the noises she made as he entered her. 

“Speaking of…,” he muttered to himself, opening the small window nearest him. “Smells like fresh fuck in here.”

He knew it wasn’t a good idea, but there was no way this was going to be the only time with her, and if he didn’t take extra care to make sure no one found out, he was going to get them both in some trouble. Sure, it’d take some convincing, but he didn’t mind. The chase was more than half the fun. The other, of course, was being sheathed inside of her. 

Negan looked down at his tented pants and realized that reliving these little scenes was not going to get him out of the trailer any faster. He was already so, so late and this wasn’t helping. So he went through his ‘incredibly-not-sexy’ list of things to think about, but no matter what he landed on, his mind automatically drifted back to her. Well, not so much his mind as his dick, but still. 

When he opened the door again, the bustle around the trailer didn’t seem to reveal anyone knew anything strange had happened two feet from them. This was a good thing, he reminded himself, but the idea that they’d been quiet enough to keep it a secret hurt a little. The next time was going to be different, he thought, accepting the challenge. There was no way she was going to be able to walk away after the second round. 

* * *

“Oh my God, where’d you go? Did you kill him? Do I need to call Daryl? I should call Daryl, right?” Virginia asked, all in rapid succession. 

“Dude, chill,” Amelia commanded. “Everything is fine. He’ll be here in a minute. No one is dead.”

_ Except my brain. My brain is dead. He broke my fucking brain. And possibly my vagina _, she thought. 

“It’s just… good? Just like that?” the other woman questioned in disbelief. 

“Yes, now let’s get back to work,” she said, making sure to raise her voice enough that everyone around her could hear it too. 

“Why, uh, is your skirt on backwards?”

“Huh?”

She looked down, and sure enough, her skirt was most definitely on backwards. She looked back to Virginia with fear etched all over her features, only to be met with a very knowing look that Amelia did not approve of. Negan, per his usual, didn’t make it any better since he chose that exact moment to come up behind her. 

“Damn, girl, was it like that?” he chuckled low. 

Thankfully, no one else, not even Virginia, could hear what he said, but she had to fight to keep herself upright. The three-piece suit he had on now, coupled with the double leather holsters, was too much. Her knees wanted desperately to buckle under the weight of sexual frustration that was currently building in the pit of her stomach. 

Without another word, she swiftly put her skirt in the right position and sat down in front of the monitor. She didn’t look back Virginia’s way again, not wanting to invite any more of that particular conversation as she pulled on her headphones. 

Rick took a seat next to her shortly after she called action, handing her a cup of coffee. She thanked him, but her eyes never roamed from the screen in front of her. Rick knew her too well and she didn’t trust herself not to give it away. 

Add in Negan’s voice, coupled with his current stance, and she found she was replaying a particular moment that looked similar to the one everyone else could see now too. Granted, the two characters weren't in ** _quite_ ** the same position, but the body language was playing the worst kind of tricks on her. 

_ “Move your leg,” he commanded, his voice rough. _

_ She obeyed quicky and he managed to hit a spot inside of her that she didn’t know existed. She cried out but he covered his mouth with hers before anyone could think anything was wrong. His soft grunts met her gentle moans as he continued to move at an unforgiving pace, never allowing Amelia to catch her breath fully. _

_ “Amelia. Amelia. Oh God,” he chanted. _

“Earth to Amelia,” Rick’s voice broke through finally. 

“Huh?” 

“Cut, maybe?” he teased. 

“Wha… oh, cut. Yes, cut.”

She heard a few snickers as those closest to her realized how distracted she was. Only Virginia had a real clue, and even then she didn’t have proof. 

“Get set up for the next one,” she instructed loudly. “Let’s go.”

She covered her face next, refusing to meet Negan’s eyes even through the safety of the monitor. She didn’t really need to look up to know he was staring at her right now anyway. She could feel his eyes on her, just like she’d felt his hands a second ago. 

“God, why?” she groaned, laying her head on Rick’s shoulder. 

“What’s up? What’s wrong?” 

The sincerity in his voice was adorable and she couldn’t help but sit back and smile at him. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Sure I would. Lay it on me.”

“Uh, no. That’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Come on. I can tell something’s bothering you. Just tell me,” he begged. 

“Maybe later,” she lied. “I just need to focus.”

“Okay,” he answered slowly, obviously trying to decide if he should push it or not. 

Thankfully for her, he let it go and the rest of the afternoon was a pretty seamless operation. They even managed to finish up the rest of the scenes slated for the next couple of days, so it would be night shoots for the foreseeable future. And yes, they sucked, but it was better than the eighteen-ish hour days they were putting in currently. 

_ If I can keep it in my damn pants, I should be fine _, she reasoned with herself. 

That night, she managed to move things around and give everyone a proper dinner break, leaving her alone with her thoughts for a solid half an hour. Again, not the best idea, but she had reasoned it would give her enough time to come to terms with what happened and move on. And by come to terms with it, of course, she meant she would be rehashing every single glorious second in vivid detail as she tried not to scream his name again. 

But there were worse problems to have.


	5. Chapter 5

Amelia was laughing so hard she was snorting as she watched Negan play around on set, and she was far from the only one. The gaffer and boom operator were both about to fall over. Of course, this just made him play it up even more, making it hard for her to breathe after a few more minutes. And she wanted to tell him to stop, but lately he was the only thing that kept her from losing it completely. 

After their little tryst, things had gotten substantially better. Even the rest of the cast and crew had started to feed off the new, and much more laidback, energy from both Negan and Amelia. She knew how hard that was to capture so she wasn’t about to do anything to mess it up. 

They didn't talk about that day, not properly, and not outside of little inside jokes every once and awhile, but she often found herself rubbing her legs together a little harder than normal when she thought about it for too long. Thankfully, never in public. 

Rick, however, had caught on pretty quickly. Their flirtatious behavior was hard to miss if you were looking for it. Most mistook it for them just being friendly, and that worked. Who was she to correct them and ruin both their lives like that? Neither of them wanted that kind of attention. 

Negan gave her another wink through the monitor when things calmed back down and he went back to his mark to do the scene for real this time. Rick was watching her closely as she took her seat again and she turned to him. 

“What?” 

He smiled back at her. “Nothing.”

“What is it?”

“Just… nice to see you happy, I guess.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” 

“Actually, I prefer her all pent-up and bitchy,” Virginia responded nearby, still thumbing through her phone. 

Daryl laughed into his cup of coffee, not bothering to hide it anymore. “Right? Much more colorful language involved.” 

“I don’t like this newfound friendship between the two of you. Cut it out.”

Instead of listening, of course, they just high-fived, which she saw out of the corner of her eye. She was doing her best to pretend to ignore them, but she really did love that both Virginia and Daryl had found each other. She knew how difficult she could be to work with, and if Virginia had Daryl to vent to, it made it all okay. 

“Hey, you,” someone suddenly whispered near her ear. 

She jumped up like something had bitten her and threw herself into Dylan’s waiting arms. He spun her around once, lifting her off her feet. A huge smile played on her lips as she looked up at her boyfriend. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you had to work.”

“Eh, who needs work when they have you, huh?”

He bent down slowly and gave her a quick and chaste kiss, his hands resting comfortably on her hips as he pulled her closer. He put another on the tip of her nose as she moved back to her chair again. 

“How’s it going?” he asked rubbing her shoulders from behind. “Almost done?”

“No,” Daryl piped up. “We have, like, six more scenes today.”

“But they’re not until tonight, ya idiot.”

“Baby, that’s not very nice,” Dylan scolded. 

“Sorry, Daryl,” she whispered. 

Her cheeks were on fire as she felt everyone’s eyes snap to her, worst of all Negan’s, and she tried to regain her composure after being chastised like a child. Dylan was the worst about it, but she let him get away with it. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but their relationship had blossomed so organically that their problems had too. She overlooked them most of the time because they rarely spent time together anymore. He worked insane hours and so did she, so she found herself bending to his will a lot more than she should out of guilt.

Today was no different. 

“We ready?” Negan shouted angrily. 

She nodded and motioned for him to begin. His eyebrows furrowed when she didn’t call action like she normally would, but she was too nervous now. She couldn’t help it. Her confidence had evaporated. It was something so simple, and not even that bad, but she found herself ready to cry out of frustration. At the end of the day, it was stupid and she had to let it go. No good came from pulling at that thread anyway. 

* * *

Negan watched as the Amelia he had come to rely on vanished in front of him. Some guy he’d never seen before in his life was rubbing her shoulders and whispering in her ear. Maggie, his on-screen wife, kicked his shin to regain his attention when he didn’t respond to her line like he should have. 

“Hey,” he hissed. “What the hell?”

“Stop staring and get back to work,” she commanded. 

“For someone so small, you’re kinda mean. You know that?”

“I have been told that, yes.”

“But you don’t care?” Negan asked. 

“Not even a little bit.”

He chuckled and rolled his shoulders a couple of times as he worked on ignoring what was happening a few feet away. He tried to regain his focus on the scene at hand and not at watching Amelia’s confidence get ripped to shreds. 

Now, he knew what he was  ** _supposed_ ** to do right now and what he was  ** _about_ ** to do. He also knew they weren’t remotely the same thing. Hopefully, Maggie could keep up. 

He pursed his lips and moved them into something resembling an angry scowl, which Maggie clearly hadn’t been expecting because she backed up automatically. 

Well, at least he was on the right track. 

“You gotta be shittin’ me with this,” he said, throwing a stack of paperwork between them. “Did you really think I wasn’t gonna find out?”

Maggie’s eyebrows pulled in the middle and he prayed that she’d catch on quickly enough for this to work. 

“I didn’t think you were paying attention,” she whispered, playing it up perfectly. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he responded. “You’re my  ** _wife_ ** .”

“You never acted like you cared before,” she said, adding in a well-timed sniffle. God, she was good. “I just… wanted to feel needed.”

He took her much smaller hands in his and waited until she looked up at him. “I do need you. I need you more than I’ll ever be able to tell you, but you know the rules, darlin’. I can’t let this go, either.”

“But…”

“Did… did you do this on purpose?” he asked suddenly. 

“I, uh, wh--what?”

“Did you do this on purpose?” he asked again, overemphasizing each syllable. “You know he has to die now, right? Is that what you want?”

“No, please. No. I won’t do it again,” she protested. “Please. He didn’t know who I was. I lied. It’s not his fault.”

“Sweetheart, everyone in this town knows who you are. Including him.”

“Please,” she begged, her lip quivering.

“Cut,” Amelia called, but it came out as more of a squeak than he was used to hearing. 

Maggie winked at Negan and he smiled down at her without hesitation. She was a damn good scene partner, the best he’d ever had before, that was for sure. She sparred with him without batting an eye, rolling with his improv like no one else had ever been able to before. It was fantastic, but he knew it was wrong. Amelia would be headed over to see what was up, which was the point. He needed to get her away from that guy and ask what the hell was going on without a ton of people listening in. He’d read every single sign wrong if what he  ** _thought_ ** was happening right now was actually happening. 

But she never came over. She didn’t even move from her chair. She just rewatched the scene and then called for them to block off the next one. 

What the fuck kind of mixed up universe had he landed in? Something was very, very wrong. 

“Don’t do it,” Maggie whispered at his side. 

“What?”

“Do not go over there and get into a pissin’ contest.”

“I wasn’t gonna…”

“Sure, sure. Just follow me,” she cut across him. “Let me handle it.”

He shrugged his shoulders and let her lead him back toward everyone else. Amelia was still there by the time they made it, which made him happy. She wasn’t trying to run and hide at least, not that she technically was in the wrong either way. But maybe, he tried to reason, it wasn’t as bad as he thought. 

She wouldn’t meet his eyes, though. Maggie, however, walked right up to the new guy and introduced herself. 

“Hey, there. Maggie.” She thrust her hand forward. 

“Maggie, this is my boyfriend, Dylan,” Amelia gushed.

“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” he smiled, revealing two dimples. 

Boyfriend?! She had a fucking  ** _boyfriend_ ** ?

Negan couldn’t see anything but red and was finding it harder and harder to keep his breathing even too. What the hell would this guy think if he knew Negan had been balls deep in his girlfriend not a week ago? 

Well, he was going to find out. He wasn’t about to keep that shit to himself. 

“Negan!” Rick hollered. “Wanna help me with this next set of…” 

His words trailed off into nothing, but it didn’t matter. He’d meant to force Negan to pause before he knocked this guy out. And it had worked. He nodded curtly to the happy couple before walking over to the other two men who were watching him closely. 

“Take a seat, man,” Rick offered, pointing to his own chair. 

“Nah, I’ll stand,” he huffed. 

“You good?” Daryl asked next. 

“Yep,” he said, never tearing his eyes from Amelia’s face. “Never better.”

He didn’t miss the way that Dylan guided the conversation, and Amelia, for the rest of the day. His hand never strayed far from the small of her back, but it was more possessive than anything. Not sweet. Not like what he assumed she’d demand of a guy she was legitimately dating. That man was in complete control of a woman who Negan had thought, until about ten minutes ago, wasn’t capable of being handled like that. He had pegged her all wrong and he felt stupid for thinking anything different. 

The only thing he was happy for, in that moment, was knowing that any sort of feelings he had for her had vaporized entirely. 


	6. Chapter 6

“I swear to God, Negan, I’ll…” 

“Do what exactly, sweetheart? Roll over and take it?” 

“What the fuck? What is your goddamn problem? I can’t believe I thought it was possible to work with your stubborn ass!”

Amelia was toe to toe with Negan again, screaming directly in his face and poking him square in the chest. She had reached her limit with him and there was no way they could come back from it now. They’d been at each other’s throats for a week, and this particular fight had been brewing for days. She didn’t even care that everyone was watching. She was done. 

“ ** _My_ ** problem?  ** _My_ ** fucking problem? I’m not the one callin’ cut every two damn seconds because you think the words you wrote are better than the ones I’m coming up with. I get it. Drives you crazy to think I’m a better fucking writer than you, but clearly it’s true.”

“You’re not in charge!” she screamed. “I am. And you’re fucking fired.”

“You can’t do that,” he laughed. “We’ve been over this. You need me.”

“Need you?  ** _I_ ** need  ** _you_ ** ? Are you fucking high? Is that what’s going on? You’re on drugs. I mean, you have to be. Because I have twenty, count ‘em Negan, twenty fucking movies under my belt and you have three. And this is your first top billed one, so fuck all the way off.”

“At least I don’t take out all my relationship shortcomings on the people I work with because I’m threatened by them,” he whispered.

She didn’t even think about it as she pulled her hand back and went to slap him across the face, but Rick managed to catch her wrist and jerked it backwards. 

“Nope. Not gonna happen,” he said firmly. 

“You,” he pointed at Negan. “Go to your fucking trailer. And you,” he said, turning to Amelia, “come with me.”

Negan was chuckling loudly, but she could tell he was scared by her outburst too. He was just trying to hide it because of what it meant. 

“Now!” Rick bellowed to them both. 

Amelia’s chest was still heaving as she turned around and stalked back to her seat. As she grabbed her headphones, Rick stopped her. 

“Nope. Trailer. Now.”

“I’m…”

“Now.”

They stared each other down for a few seconds before she gave in, her shoulders slumping as she walked to her trailer. She felt like a kid getting in trouble, but she’d been acting like one a few seconds ago, so maybe it was only fair. 

She went to slam the door behind her, but Rick caught it and walked in too. She hadn’t expected him to try to talk to her after that. Not with the way she was freaking out. She had almost actually slapped someone. She was out of control and she knew it. The problem was when she was around Negan, it seemed unavoidable. 

“What the hell is going on?” Rick asked. “I thought you two figured this out.”

“Well, we didn’t, I guess.” She sat down hard on the edge of her bed after pacing for a second. “Apparently he can only stop being an asshole for a few days at a time. How is that  ** _my_ ** fault?”

“It’s not about fault,” Rick said, his voice getting softer. “It’s about your job. The one you’ve worked incredibly hard for and deserve. Are you really going to let some guy you just met get under your skin like this and fuck it all up?” 

“I can’t… do this. It’s too hard.”

“I have never seen you back down from a fight,” he countered. “Why start now? Why is this different?”

She shrugged. That’s the only answer she had for him. She had no idea why it was different, but it was. And it had nothing to do with the sex either because that had happened a couple times before as well. Granted, it wasn’t the raw and animalistic way that they’d clearly needed each other, but it didn’t change that much of the situation. Right?

“Listen, I heard them talking the other day. Ezra and the guys. They’re going to fire you both.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Me? Why? What’d I do?” 

“People have been complainin’ about the set atmosphere and shit. Saying it’s too volatile. And it is, if I’m being honest. I know it’s not you. And it’s not really him either. It’s the both of you together. I mean, do you blame ‘em?”

“No,” she sighed. 

“Hey,” Negan interrupted, appearing in the doorway. “Can I talk to you?”

He was looking right at Amelia, so there was no mistaking who he’d meant. His arms were folded across his chest and the tension was rolling off him in waves, but she wasn’t nervous about the prospect of talking to him again. They did need to work this out if what Rick was saying was true, which she didn’t doubt. He wouldn’t have come to her if it wasn’t important. 

“Sure,” she said, waving him in. “Rick, I’ll be out in a minute, okay?”

“I can’t leave you two alone,” he admitted.

“We’ll be fine,” Negan offered. “I promise. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“That’s not going to help,” she said. “But we promise not to kill each other, right?”

“Yes,” Negan said simply. “No one will die. And you can stay right outside if it makes you feel better.”

“Okay,” he finally conceded. “But I’m right outside. And if you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Negan rolled his eyes at the horrible attempt at scaring him. Rick knew better than that. Negan was crass and vulgar and mostly awful, but he wasn’t going to hurt her. If anything, based on the events of their morning, Negan should be the one to be worried. Not the other way around.

As soon as Rick was outside, Negan sat down next to her, getting as close as was comfortable for the both of them. She didn’t know if she trusted herself enough for that, but he didn’t seem to mind, so she tried to be okay with it too. 

“Negan, I…”

“Nah, stop. Stop right the fuck now,” he seethed. “We can’t do this and you know it. I was wrong. You were wrong. Let’s just start there, okay?” 

“How the hell was I wrong?” she snapped back before she could stop herself. 

He chuckled. “There she is. I was wonderin’ when you were gonna make your oh so graceful return.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she mumbled. 

“Come on. Drop the act. It’s tired,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “I can’t fucking handle that shit anymore. One of the many things making me crazy lately. I can’t handle you actin’ like you ain’t shit. Stop pretending like you don’t know who you are.”

She watched him as he started to pace in front of her, an eyebrow perked as he ranted and raved. She didn’t know what to say, so she stayed quiet. 

“It’s just hard to see you get treated like that by some guy who…”

“Truce?” she interrupted, standing up suddenly. 

Now that she knew where he was headed, she had to stop him. She didn’t need to hear the rest anyway. It didn’t lead anywhere safe and it opened up too many possibilities she didn’t want to consider. The exact same ones that she’d beat away with a broom when they’d threatened to camp out in her brain. 

“I, uh, I… okay?” She shook his hand and nodded, motioning for the door. “Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that,” she said. 

“What was even the point then? Did you just wanna whip it out or somethin’? Cause we didn’t need to go through all this. I already knew you had bigger balls than me, baby.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “You make me crazy,” she admitted. “Absolutely batshit crazy. And faster than anyone else I’ve ever known.”

She shrugged after a second, unsure of how to really finish that statement or if there even was one. He seemed to accept it, thankfully, after he mulled it over, shrugged his shoulders too finally, and then started for the door. 

At least it hadn’t taken long, she reasoned. They’d gotten out all their aggression with each other, almost gotten fired, and then saved their jobs. All before ten. 

And somehow managed to keep their clothes on in each other’s presence. It probably wasn’t that hard for him to do, but after the first time it was nearly impossible for her to maintain any sort of composure around him. 

“Stop improvising,” she said, shaking a finger at him as they started back to the tent. 

“I can’t. I’m a better writer than you, remember?” he whispered, winking at her. 

“Not even close.”

“Given the subject matter, trust me.”

“What’s that mean?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he teased. 

She rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day as he motioned for her to take a seat. Rick, Daryl, and Virginia were watching them both like they’d each grown another head or something, but Amelia tried not to pay attention. 

“Let’s go,” she bellowed to the crew, who immediately sprang into action. 

Everyone was rushing back to get set up when she noticed Negan staring at her with a wide smile on his face. She had no idea what it was for, but it was nice to see it’d replaced the scowl. She gave him a sweet one back as he turned around to Maggie and his other scene partners without a word. 

Now, all they had to do was hold onto this tenuous shred of niceness they’d discovered and they might make it through alive. She prayed it was enough to keep them on track to finish on time. Either that, or she hoped she was the last one standing when it came to actual blows. 


	7. Chapter 7

Amelia waved from the front of the lot as everyone left without her. Virginia looked like she was being dragged away against her will, which was making her laugh. Once she was out there, though, Amelia knew she’d be having fun in no time. She was just so used to being there when Amelia was that her brain was trying to keep her anchored. Thankfully, Negan could tell all of this without anyone saying a word and was all but dragging the much smaller woman across the concrete toward his car. 

“Are you sure you won’t come?” Daryl asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Gonna be fun.”

“I’ll be fine. I have a lot of work to do.”

“We all do,” he continued. “But you won’t die if you leave for one night. Work’ll still be here tomorrow.”

“He’s got a point,” Rick piped up, walking past them slowly toward everyone else. “You won’t die.”

“You guys don’t know. I might.”

“It’s ‘cause of me,” Negan yelled. 

She rolled her eyes at the accusation, but didn’t disagree with him either. It wasn’t that completely, but it played a role. She didn’t really trust herself to be intoxicated around him since the sex had happened when they were both stone-cold sober. That and she knew their explosive arguments had the possibility of being even worse if one or both of them were drunk. It was just a recipe for disaster, plain and simple. 

“I’ll be fine,” she repeated, giving Daryl a kiss on the cheek. 

His ears turned red at her touch and he refused to look back at her as he walked to Rick’s car. She smiled wider at the thought that maybe he’d been right after all about Daryl’s little crush. It was cute, but nothing would ever happen between them now. Other than the fact that they worked together, he was too sweet for her. Negan had made for damn sure that no one else was going to be able to come close if they didn’t at least make her a little crazy. 

She gave one last wave as Negan jogged back over to where she was standing. He was all smiles and she liked seeing this side of him, happy that he’d be there to make sure Virginia had a good time. 

“Hey, listen,” he started. “I promise to be on my best behavior tonight. If, ya know, you wanna go too.”

“I’m okay,” she admitted quietly. “I really do have work to do.”

“Come on… it’ll be fun.” 

“Negan, I can’t.”

He shook his head after a second and then walked off without another word. She knew he was mad at her for not caving, but he’d just have to get over it. There really was no way they could be drunk around each other and no way, outside of work, that they could handle each other in a social setting sober. Something had to give, so that meant she stayed in. As hard as it was for everyone else, she really was okay with it. 

She watched as everyone left for the night before she turned and walked back to her trailer. The bottle of wine that was waiting for her had been calling her name for the last few hours and she was ready to pop it open and get started on the rewrites she’d been dreading all day. 

* * *

“You know she likes you, right?” Virginia drunk-whispered to Negan as they sat at the bar. 

He laughed quietly as she slurred her words, not sure how she’d gotten drunk so fast in the first place. They had been out for a while, but Virginia hadn’t had enough, in his opinion, to be like this. He’d known he was going to have to babysit after the first drink, so it was fine. 

“Who?”

“Amelia.”

“Well, I like her too,” he said, patting her hand. 

“No,” she continued. “She  ** _likes_ ** likes you.”

“Oh, are we in fifth grade?” he teased. “Did she send you to tell me that?”

“No, dumb-dumb. She’d kill me if she knew I told you that.” He contemplated her words carefully, but didn’t say anything else. He didn’t really know what to do if they were true, which he doubted seriously that they were. “You should definitely, definitely kiss her again.”

“Kiss her? Who you kissin’?” Rick asked, slapping him on the back. 

“No one.”

“Amelia,” Virginia stated plainly. 

Rick and Daryl both raised an eyebrow at her confession and Negan just shook his head. “She’s drunk.”

“I am, but it’s true. That’s why her skirt was on backwards that one day. ‘Member, Negan?”

He forced a smile at her. “Nope. I don’t…”

“Oh, is that what that was? No wonder she looked all fucking happy all the sudden. God, makes so much sense now,” Daryl said, the pieces clicking into place. 

Rick sat down hard on the stool next to him as he figured it out too. He tried to give Virginia a look, but he had a feeling there was more than one Negan staring back at her. “Wow.”

“That’s all you got?” Negan asked. 

“I mean… yeah. I don’t know… wow.”

“Whatch y’all talkin’ about over here?” Maggie asked, her accent thicker now that she’d been drinking too. 

“Amelia and Negan.”

“And how they totally did it?” 

“You  ** _knew_ ** ?” Rick questioned. 

“Dude, everybody knows.”

“What?” Negan shrieked. 

“Calm down,” she said condescendingly. “Not like, studio people or crew, but like… us.”

She motioned between herself and Virginia, and since Rick and Daryl had obviously been clueless, he hoped that was right. He didn’t need to ask Amelia to know how she’d feel about this particular topic of conversation. 

“I didn’t know for sure until you acted stupid that one day when her boyfriend showed up.”

“Ugh, I hate that guy,” Virginia said, putting her head down on the bar top. “He’s the worst.”

Negan rubbed her back. “You want me to drop you at your house, girl? You’re lookin’ a little green right now.”

“You can’t ignore this conversation, Negan,” she giggled, booping him on the nose. “Everybody knows now. Just own it.”

“There’s nothing to say.” 

And there really wasn’t. Nothing had come of it, she had a boyfriend, and they’d established some weird version of a ceasefire that he had no intention of interrupting. 

“Go for it, man,” Daryl said. 

“She has a boyfriend.”

“Yes, and?” 

“Well, typically a guy like that isn’t cool with being in a threesome unless it involves two girls.”

Rick snorted his laughter. “I think he meant you should get him out of the picture.”

“I got it, but…”

“Seriously. He’s the worst,” Virginia repeated. “You should put a hit out for him.”

He put his hand over his face and laughed at the absurd turn this night had taken. “This is ridiculous.”

“Why?” Maggie asked. 

“Because I’m not good enough for her,” he blurted out. 

Everyone’s face fell at the same time and he realized he’d revealed a lot more than he’d meant to, but it wasn’t a lie either. He knew the minute Dylan showed up that Negan was the guy you had great sex with and then went home after to the doctor husband. That’s the way it worked, and before Amelia he’d been cool with it. He’d have happily settled into that kind of life, but now he wanted more. Problem was that he knew he wasn’t going to get it with her. She was way too far out of his league. 

“That’s not true,” Virginia said, sitting back up. “You guys are perfect for each other. You’re basically the same person anyway.”

“Oh, really now?” 

“Yep. You’re both stubborn and hot as hell."

Negan laughed louder at that one, but everyone else was nodding in agreement. “If those were the only two things that held up our relationship, I think we’d be in trouble.”

“It’s not the only thing,” Rick said. “You guys…”

“Stop, okay? That’s enough. She’s gonna kill us all and put our heads in little jars in her office for talkin’ about this in the first place. Don’t make it worse, okay? Let’s just get you home,” he said, motioning for Virginia to stand up and lean on him. 

“I got her,” Daryl offered. “I’ll make sure she gets home.”

“You shouldn’t be driving either.”

“I’m not gonna. I’ll call an Uber outside.”

“I can do it,” Negan said, being genuine. “I don’t mind.”

“Stay, it’s fine. I was gonna go soon anyway. This gives me an excuse to be good.”

“And I don’t need one?”

“Nah.”

He chuckled and watched as Daryl forced Virginia upright and out the doors. He didn’t like the idea that he didn’t know for absolute sure that she was going to get home safe, but he trusted Daryl to keep his word. 

“Well, if you’re gonna stay…” Rick started, motioning with his cup toward a woman staring at them from across the bar. 

“One second I need to try to woo Amelia and now I need to go home with the first woman who gives me bedroom eyes?”

“Bedroom eyes? What are you, a hundred?” Rick laughed at his own joke. “I can tell you aren’t gonna do it. I’m making a point.”

Negan winked at the woman and then downed the rest of his drink. He needed to remind Rick who he was messing with here. He was exactly what Virginia had called him: stubborn. And right now he had every intention of proving her right. Besides, there was no use getting hung up on Amelia when he didn’t stand a chance in Hell. 

* * *

Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses as she tried to get rid of the blurriness she was experiencing. Nothing had worked so far, but she needed to get some more work done. She didn’t have time for things like sleep. It wasn’t late enough either, which meant she’d regret it immensely in the morning if she didn’t keep going. 

Her phone suddenly dinged beside her, causing her to jump slightly as she fumbled to pick it up. When she finally read it a couple of times, she sighed loudly. Maybe it was time to give it up after all. 

The message was from Negan and all it said was I’m sorry. She felt bad because she had no idea what he was even referring to anymore. They were nice enough to each other, but most days it was still strained. And then tonight he’d invited her out and she’d turned him down. Given how frustrated she was with how little work she’d actually gotten done, she couldn’t remember what her excuse had been hours before. 

She heard him open and close his trailer door a couple of rows down from hers. She knew it was him because his voice carried more than anyone else’s on set. Since everyone else was gone, it was almost like he was shouting without meaning to. 

She put her laptop back on the nearby desk and threw the blanket off her legs. Amelia knew she had to hurry before she talked herself out of it. She needed to find Negan and apologize properly. There was no need for the kind of animosity that existed between them anymore. Not with how nice he was being lately. 

Damn him. 

She pulled her thin jacket tighter around herself as the cool night air hit her in the face. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long before she was standing right at his door, but the minute she was, she hesitated. She should have known she’d get this far and chicken out. 

Her hand was hovering in the air, about to knock, when she decided to just go in. Sure, it was Negan and he could very well be naked, but that was a risk she was willing to take. She had a smirk on her face at the idea as she stepped up into the trailer fully, but it faded just as fast when she saw what he was doing. 

He was leaned against the counter with his shirt off and he was kissing a girl who looked barely legal. She scoffed quietly and ran back out the door before she had time to really register what was happening. All that mattered was that he had her up on the very same counter she’d been on and she knew what that meant. 

“Whoa,” he said, running after her. “Amelia?”

“Who the fuck else would it be?” she screamed. 

“I… uh… what are you doing?”

“Nothing, Negan. Absolutely nothing.”

“Ever heard of knocking?” he chuckled. 

He thought this was funny? Really? She couldn’t believe there was a time she thought this was a good idea, or had ever sought it out. Was she insane? 

“I didn’t know you’d be fucking someone young enough to be your daughter. So  ** _sorry_ ** , Negan.”

“Hold on. Slow down a sec. Let’s talk about this.”

“Talk about what? We aren’t together. You’re allowed to have sex with whoever you want, but…”

“Are you jealous?”

That made her stop completely. She turned to face him slowly, spinning on her heel. “Jealous? Of that? No. No, I am not.” 

“Sounds like you are, darlin’.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“No.” 

“What?”

“No, I will not shut the fuck up. Because I want you to admit you like me. That’s why you’re so fucking pissed right now, right?”

“I’m not mad, Negan. I’m just…”

“Jealous,” he interrupted. “Yeah, I know.”

“I am not!” 

“Good, because you can’t be. You didn’t want anything to do with me, remember? You have a boyfriend, if I recall, so if anyone gets to be jealous, it’s me.”

“Are you?” she asked. 

“Nope.”

“Good. Me either.”

“Uh-huh, well, if that’s all, I’m gonna get back to what I was doing."

“Have fun fucking all your little groupies, Negan. Make sure to wear a condom. I’d hate for you to get syphilis.”

He turned around quickly and stalked back to his trailer, flipping her off over his shoulder without looking back. She stormed back to her own trailer, absolutely fuming. 

As soon as she threw the door open, she was looking for her phone again. She tried Virginia’s number several times before giving up. She looked around, at a loss for what to do next when she saw her computer open on the table still. 

The smirk was back as she stared at the page in front of her. Oh, this was gonna be fun. 


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone looked at Negan as he walked up to his chair, a searing coffee cup in hand. He perked an eyebrow at them, but didn’t ask what was going on. He’d probably find out soon enough. No, he hadn’t left things in a great place with Amelia last night, but it could be worse. She wasn’t trying to karate chop him in the throat right now, so that was something. 

He sat down slowly, and that’s when he noticed something was already there. He pulled up a script from underneath him and then took note of the cover. Something was definitely up and it was bad enough that no one wanted to be the one to tell him. 

He groaned quietly as he flipped to the first page. He skimmed it lightly before switching to the next page and the next. He had less lines, but he wasn’t stopping to tell why that might be yet. It definitely wasn’t the worst thing. For one, less stuff to memorize, he reasoned, but something was still off because everyone was obviously expecting an outburst from him. 

Negan took a deep breath and decided to just sit down and read for a second. He’d have to eventually anyway, so he might as well get it over with. He couldn’t ignore the way his heart was beating in his chest, though. He couldn’t imagine having Amelia really and truly mad at you was a good place to be. He’d come close already. He didn’t want to repeat that. 

He read the first line carefully, but it didn’t really sink in. It didn’t make any sense. The character,  ** _his_ ** character, was completely different. And not in a good way. This guy was the worst. He was vindictive. He was a murderer. He was nasty as hell. There was no way this had passed by anyone else because they would have put a stop to it. His character wasn’t going to be the least bit sympathetic now, and since that’s what the studio had been going for with this one, he doubted it’d stick. He had to give her kudos for trying, though. 

Negan sat the script back in his lap and continued to sip his coffee carefully, ignoring everyone’s eyes on him. He needed to talk to Amelia directly. He’d apologize, she’d fix it, and they’d move on. He wanted her to admit she was jealous first, though. He didn’t know if he’d actually get his wish there or not, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Maybe with everything out in the open, they could get this shit done. Besides, how exactly could she talk her way out of it? The guy had been a family man with a checkered past and now he was a cheating asshole. No one else knew what’d gone down last night, except maybe Virginia, but he could tell where all these feelings came from. She’d literally written herself into a corner there and he was going to be the one to bring it up. 

It was another ten minutes before she appeared, but when she did, he almost fell out of his chair. The outfit she had on was like nothing he’d seen her in before that moment. The way the pencil skirt was clinging to her hips had him trying to adjust himself discreetly. Was she trying to murder him? 

“Negan,” she said, smiling as she sat down. 

“Sweetheart,” he retorted. 

“Did you read it yet?” she said, pulling out her headphones. 

“I did.”

“Need a bit to memorize it? Or are you just going to go up there and ad-lib?”

“What do you think?”

She just shook her head and laughed quietly before pulling out her iPad and checking off things. Everyone around them was still waiting for the explosion, but they were holding it together nicely. 

No one seemed like they wanted to find out how long this could go on because one-by-one they all excused themselves quietly until finally it was just them left underneath the director’s tent. 

“Amelia,” he said quietly, sitting his cup down on the ground, “we… uh, need to talk.”

“About?” she said, not looking up. 

“Last night.”

“What happened last night?”

He rolled his eyes. “Can we not do that? And can you please turn around? I’m trying to apologize to you.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Obviously I did because you…”

Before he could finish that, though, several people filed in around them. Negan looked up and noticed there were more than the other day, but many of the same people. 

This was bad. Very, very bad. 

It took a second, but finally Amelia looked up too. If she sensed the gravity of the situation, she didn’t let on. Not externally anyway. She also didn’t start talking first either, which got weirder the longer everyone was quiet. 

“You can’t do this,” one of the suits said. “Change him back, Amelia.”

“Oh, I can’t do that,” she said in a flat tone. 

“And why not?”

“Because it’s  ** _my_ ** character.”

“That we purchased,” someone else interrupted. “And the one we purchased is not what showed up this morning in rewrites. This is a bait-and-switch. It’s not allowed. And you know that.”

“It’s artistic license, not a bait-and-switch, okay? I know it’s strange to not have me by the balls, but I don’t have any, so you’ll just have to figure out some other way to try and assert your dominance.”

Negan’s eyes were huge as she said those words. He wanted to laugh and then give her a big kiss for that shit, but he stayed still. He knew she was a badass, but damn. He also knew that they would have gotten past this if they hadn’t shown up by talking through it, so he had no idea why she was hanging onto this thing. 

“Then we’ll have no choice but to fire you, Amelia. We hired you for your…”

“Fluff,” she interrupted. “You hired me for my fluff, but it turns out I’m all angst, so if you wanna fire me for that, go ahead. There are plenty of people who will hire me for that exact thing. I just can’t sit by anymore and write this drivel.”

“It wasn’t drivel last week, so what changed? Is this because we didn’t get rid of him? You think this will instead?”

“Whoa,” Negan finally spoke up. “Wait a second. I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it this way. I just got the final script. I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he lied. “I think it’s better. We worked on it together. Why you comin’ down on just her?”

He could see her smirking out of the corner of his eye. If she wouldn’t let him apologize properly, he could do it this way instead. He would lie out of his ass to help her keep her job, not that he was even sure she wanted it anymore with the way she was acting. 

“Wait, you… you knew?” 

“Course I knew. Do you really think she’d make these changes without telling me?”

“Well, we, uh… we thought that she…”

“You thought I was a vengeful bitch, clearly.” 

“Now that’s enough, young lady.”

And that was all it took. She was up and out of her seat. The high heels she had on made her level with the tiny man who had been dumb enough to say the words. Thankfully, Negan was close enough to grab her arm. 

“Take a walk,” he said forcefully. 

“I…”

“Now, Amelia.”

She stared back at him, tears swimming in her eyes, but he didn’t back down. She was about to ruin her whole career if she wasn’t careful and he couldn’t let her do that because she was mad at him. 

Amelia’s shoulders finally slumped as she walked away from them all, not even looking back. He wanted to stay, but he knew that she needed him more right now. A man had just saved her from other dumbass men. That wasn’t going to be any better in her mind. 

“Excuse me,” he said, turning to go after her. 

“Is that really what happened?” someone asked behind him. 

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

They started to talk amongst themselves as he jogged to catch up with her. He put a hand on the small of her back as soon as he was close enough and led her toward his trailer. 

“Is she still here?” she asked when he went to open the door. 

“No.” 

She didn’t object any further as she walked up the steps. She paced for a second before sitting down on his couch, putting her head in her hands. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m… I don’t know what else to say. You knew I was an idiot, though, right? Is it really that surprising?”

She gave him a watery laugh, but didn’t look up. “I’m sorry too.” 

“For what?”

“For taking it out on your character. I was gonna put it back. I just…” 

“Needed to take it out on somethin’. I get it. I’m just glad you didn’t go for the actual jugular this time.” 

Her shoulders started to shake like she was laughing, but he knew better. He went to sit beside her and started to rub her back. After a few seconds, she put her head on his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. 

“I didn’t even send it to them,” she said quietly. “Someone else must have thought I was being serious.”

“Ah,” he said lamely, unsure of how else to reply. 

“I just wanted to make you mad. I wanted to yell and scream, and you’re always good for that.”

He chuckled and pulled her in closer. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“I was gonna put it back,” she repeated. 

“Hey, I know that. It’s okay. Let’s just go back out there and tell them we’ll figure something out that everyone can be happy with, okay? You can have some of your, what’d you call it? Angst? Or whatever. And they can get their sappy shit back and we can all be happy. Deal?”

“Okay,” she agreed, wiping her eyes. 

She leaned back just enough to look up at him and Negan, without thinking at all, leaned down and kissed her. It was effortless, like it’d happened a million times. As if it was completely normal and mundane. Except it wasn’t. 

“What are you doing, Negan?” Amelia murmured against his lips. 

This wasn’t going to solve a damn thing. In fact, this was just going to create problems they didn’t have. Everything was fine. What  ** _was_ ** he doing? 

“Shut up and let me kiss you,” he said back, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “I know you want me to. Why else would you get all mad like that last night?”

She rolled her eyes, probably hating the satisfied smirk she could hear in his voice. The real issue was that it was all bravado. He wasn’t near as confident in this scenario as he might normally be. She didn’t know it, but all it’d take right now to completely crush him would be her telling him no. Yes, he’d gone after another girl last night, but only because he knew he wasn’t good enough for her. 

“Not gonna fight me at all?” he breathed, their faces still inches apart. “Who are you and what have you done with Amelia?”

“Negan, I swear to God, the very small window you have to do what you said is closing quickly and…”

“What I have for you isn’t gonna fit through a very small window,” he drawled. “You know that.”

She rolled her eyes again, but her reply was completely overtaken by Negan’s lips pressed against hers once more. 

This time, his hands found the bottom of her skirt and he started to tug. It hardly budged as he struggled with it. “These damn skirts are gonna be the death of me.”

“Oh, really?” 

“I almost split my fucking pants out there and you know it.”

Amelia actually giggled at that one. “Well, good thing you aren’t in costume yet, because wardrobe would’ve killed you.” 

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s what I’m worried about.”

He attacked her neck for a second, still trying to find a way underneath that damned skirt and taking note of the fact that she wasn’t stopping him. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, winking at him as she pulled back. “Not man enough to…”

“Darlin’, you know better than to finish that sentence. Now, help me get this thing off and put out already.”

She laughed quietly as he stood up, yanking her with him. He playfully lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder for a second, making her shriek and laugh louder. He put her on the end of the couch and tossed her over the arm, pressing his palm flat against the small of her back again so he had more leverage. 

“Now,” he said, pulling the skirt down swiftly, letting out a low whistle. “Thong, huh? Did you expect somethin’ to happen? Because this isn’t at all what I had in mind.”

“Uh-huh. Is that why you started kissing me?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder as she went to kick off her heels. 

“No,” he whined. “Leave ‘em on. Pretty please.”

She groaned audibly. “Only if you keep begging me like that.”

“You like that? You like it when Daddy begs?”

“Negan,” she froze, “do not call yourself Daddy. I will literally throw up on you.”

He chuckled low before sitting back on his heels and unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. He pushed down his boxer briefs and then grabbed her ass to hold her in place as he pressed up against her. “God, you look amazing like this.”

“Who knew you were an ass man?” she teased, wiggling her hips. 

“Can I rip this off?” he wondered impatiently, snapping her thong.

“No!” she protested. “I kinda need it for later.”

“Plan on fuckin’ somebody else?”

“Not like that, jackass.” 

“Fine, fine.” 

He moved it out of the way without another word and slid his fingers down between her legs, chuckling again as she moaned at his touch. “I see it wasn’t just me that was turned on out there.” 

“Shut up,” she said, still writhing against his hand. “Put it in already.”

“Put it in already? Wow, you sure are a classy lady.”

“Negan, you have me bent over the end of the couch. Just fuck me. Please.”

“Say it again,” he commanded, leaning down by her ear. 

“Negan, please. Fuck me,” she said quietly. 

“Yes ma’am.”

He shifted slowly and eased himself into her. In spite of how much he wanted it, he also wanted to make her wait just a little. If he wasn’t allowed to have the upper hand anywhere else, he definitely wanted it here. 

His hands slid further up, pushing her shirt free from the waistline of her skirt as he inched forward. He was taking far too much pleasure in listening to her squeal his name into the cushions in front of her. 

When her top got stuck, though, he grunted in frustration and started fumbling for the buttons. When he found them, he grabbed the two flaps of fabric and ripped them apart forcefully, causing buttons to fly everywhere. 

“Negan!” she chastised. “I have to go back out there. You…” 

Her words were cut off mid-sentence as she moaned loudly, obviously indicating he’d found the right spot. She didn’t say another word as she braced her arms against the couch, squirming and pushing back against him. His fingers found her nipples and he started to thrust, not caring about any other thing in the world right now. Nothing else existed. 

He felt her start to relax underneath him and he could tell she was getting fully lost in the sensations of it all. He knew that wasn’t easy for her, and he didn’t take it lightly either. As his hips continued to work in an exquisite rhythm, he found himself thinking about how different this was than last time. They’d been rough, probably too rough, and now it was almost… sensual. He had imagined she’d fight him on it, even, but she wasn’t saying a word about his pace or his movements, so he gave in to both of them. 

He leaned over and kissed along her back, moving her hair out of the way to whisper in her ear as she started to come undone around him. “Think I can beat my record?” He bit her neck lightly to end his question. Her only response was another groan, which was good enough for him. 

He figured if he could keep her in this moment, they wouldn’t be forced to go back to set. He just had to keep her perfectly blissed out and he could stay seated in her for as long as he liked. Negan knew nothing else was better than this. And he had no idea if he’d ever get another chance. He wasn’t about to let it end as quickly as before. 

As soon as her fourth orgasm threatened to pull him under, effectively breaking his record like he said, he heard the trailer door open and shut behind them. He knew he should stop, no matter who was standing behind them, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do that. Or to look at who had caught them. 

But then Dylan screamed and both their heads snapped to attention. “What the  ** _fuck_ ** ?” 

Negan turned slowly, not removing himself from Amelia to look right at her boyfriend, shielding her completely with his body. There were a million and two things going through his mind as the other man ran from his trailer, none of which involved either of them chasing after him, but he knew she was going to. She would feel obligated, and he didn’t know that he blamed her.


	9. Chapter 9

Amelia turned back to Negan slowly, her eyes huge. There wasn’t anything he could do to come back from this now, and he wasn’t really in the mood either. The tears swimming in her eyes had sort of shot down his boner pretty quickly. 

“Amelia, I…”

“Negan, shut up,” she whispered. 

He nodded and started to pull out slowly, unsure of what else he could do at this point. She still seemed frozen by the whole interaction. Even after he tucked himself safely away, she stayed in the same position, probably trying to work out what the hell she was supposed to do next. 

Then, out of nowhere, she was a flurry of action. 

He had no idea what she planned on doing, or if she even had a chance of catching up with him, but she was apparently going to try. 

Negan wanted to stop her, even thought about reaching out a couple of times as she hurried from the trailer, but he fought the instinct. It wouldn’t do either of them any good, especially when they had no idea what the hell this even  ** _was_ ** . 

He walked around picking up his clothes slowly, but it wasn’t long before he heard them screaming nearby. He tried to ignore it, but it was loud enough for the entire set to hear. The douchebag’s fucking voice carried over the whole damn parking lot. 

“Amelia, stop crying right now. You look fucking pathetic. You did this. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

“I know,” she cried. “Dylan, I’m so sorry. I promise it…”

“Means nothing?” he laughed, completing her sentence for her. “Give me a fucking break, you whore.”

Now it was his turn to look completely mystified. There was no way he was hearing right. This idiot could not be so stupid as to call her that with him in earshot. 

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times as he worked on calming down. His presence certainly wouldn’t make any of this better for her. 

“Dylan, please,” she hissed. “Can we just talk about it?”

“Sure, Amelia. Let’s talk,” he responded sarcastically. “Where would you like to start? Oh, I know, let’s start with the fact that you are the most self-centered, talentless slut I’ve ever had the misfortune to know and…”

Negan slammed his fists down on the counter in front of him, unable to stop himself. The rest of the words were drowned out by the ringing in his ears as the anger took over completely, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t need to hear it anyway. He was going to kill the fucker. 

He slammed the door to his trailer as hard as he could before starting in the direction of the shouting. He could see Amelia standing between two trailers in the back which, thankfully, seemed to be deserted. Negan made sure to see if he was right a couple of times before he stalked over to the pair. He didn’t need any witnesses for what was coming next. 

She had her arms wrapped around her middle, like she was holding herself together, as he screamed in her face. The way the rage distorted his features made it obvious how Amelia could be scared of him. He looked insane, and while she didn’t seem the type to get mixed up with this particular brand of jackass, Negan had seen it happen many times. Manipulation was the key ingredient, but he wasn’t going to stand by and watch this incredible woman get bullied any longer. No one deserved that shit, but least of all Amelia. 

“Hey!” he shouted as soon as he was close enough. “That’s it. That’s enough.”

Dylan rolled his eyes and put his hand on his hip as Negan walked straight up to Amelia. He placed a gentle hand on her cheek and forced her to look up at him. 

“Go to the trailer. I’ll be there in a second.”

“I’m fine,” she lied. “I can handle this.”

“I know. I know you can. But this is between me and him anyway, okay?” 

“Negan, I…”

“Please?”

She seemed to consider his request for a second, fully taking in that it was an actual request and not a command, before her eyes fell and her shoulders slumped like they had earlier. She knew he was right and she knew she wasn’t getting anywhere. 

Amelia didn’t say anything else, or even look back at Dylan, as she shuffled back to his trailer. Her bare feet made the scene even worse because he knew she was probably in pain, but couldn’t concentrate on it with this other shit weighing her down. 

Then Negan turned his sights on Dylan. He matched his body language as he looked him square in the face. The very one he wanted to punch right now. 

“Listen, I get it. That wasn’t exactly what you thought you’d find, but you can’t talk to her like that.” 

“Oh, now you’re her white knight or whatever?”

“No, she doesn’t need me to do that. She can handle herself. I just can’t listen to you call her a whore again. Not and let you live.”

Dylan cackled at Negan’s threat, which only made him snarl at the man. Did he think he was joking? He had to remind himself that Dylan had no idea who he was really hassling and was simply acting on pure jealousy and contempt because of what he’d witnessed. Didn’t make it any easier to keep his fists at his side, but it was the truth. 

“It’s time for you to leave,” Negan said menacingly. 

“Fine.” 

“And maybe stop by her house and get your shit outta there too.”

Dylan narrowed his eyes. “Who the fuck are you to tell me that?”

“Are you really gonna be able to swallow this pill, man? You caught us fuckin’. You gonna get past this?”

“I don’t know, but you’re the last fucking person…”

“I’m just trying to help you out, dude,” Negan interrupted. “I’d hate for you to walk in on us twice in one day.”

He smirked as the other man’s nostrils started to flare, the full impact of his words hitting at once. Negan wanted very much to laugh, but it wasn’t right. He was already getting everything in this situation. He didn’t need to rub salt in the wound, so to speak. 

Dylan turned on his heels and stomped away like a petulant child, making Negan shake his head. Then he made his way back to his trailer slowly, at a loss for what was supposed to happen now. He knew he had to face it, but he didn’t like the idea of going into a situation blind, and least of all with Amelia. That’s the kind of thing that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. He just found it impossible to keep himself in check around her. Probably a very bad sign, but one he didn’t entirely hate either. Not right now. Not anymore. 

It took her a second, but she eventually looked up at him as he came inside and leaned on the counter across from her. He’d had his arms folded over his chest, but the minute he saw that her eyes were red from crying, he sat down next to her and took her into his arms. 

He knew she wanted to fall apart, but she didn’t know him like that. She wanted to trust him, he could feel it, but she held back and now he knew why. She’d given her trust to the wrong people and they’d ruined his chances before they’d ever met. It wasn’t her fault, but it wasn’t fair either.

“I’m sorry if I…”

“No, it’s okay. You, uh, you did the right thing. I can’t exactly have him screaming like a lunatic on set like that. Thank God no one heard him. I hope.”

“Nah, no one’s out here. It’s fine. We woulda heard already if someone had been listenin’. No one on this set can keep a damn secret. You know that.”

She gave him a weak laugh, but it was something. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and he felt her relax a little bit more. 

“I, uh, told him to go to your house and get his shit,” he said, barely above a whisper. 

“That’s good.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, I… He needs to be gone. I have to be done,” she admitted. “I would’ve never had the balls to do it myself, obviously. Too chickenshit.”

“Hey, no. No, that’s not what happened here, all right?” 

“Yes, it is. It’s fine. But I guess if he’s going to do that it means you didn’t kill him, so that’s good. I’d hate to have to recast you at this point.”

He scoffed, noticing how quickly her walls had gone back up. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

He held his breath as he waited for her to answer now. This is the one question he’d been the most scared to ask and he hadn’t even realized it. This was easily the most serious conversation they’d had to date and he hadn’t really worked out his own feelings enough to know which way he wanted this go. 

“Yes. But I don’t… I can’t…”

She let the words trail off and he waited for her to finish the sentence. He didn’t want to always wonder if he’d put ideas in her head or if they’d been her own. 

“I don’t like not knowing. I have to plan everything out. It’s who I am. I can’t, umm, do this, I don’t think. And I don’t want you to hate me. I know I pretend to be all badass, but I don’t like people hating me. It’ll be hard to believe, I’m sure, but I swear I don’t get some sick pleasure out of being called a bitch every five seconds.”

He smiled down at her, moving back and forcing her to meet his eyes again. “If you gotta plan everything out, I’m not the guy for you. You know that, right? ‘Cause I never plan anything. I can’t.” 

He shrugged and waited again for her to either rip out his heart or surprise the hell out of him. He knew those were the only two options. 

“Well, uh, I don’t like it. But I can work with it. I guess.”

“You guess?” he smirked. “You  ** _guess_ ** ?”

“Shut up and kiss me, asshole.”

He chuckled quietly as he leaned forward. “Yes, ma’am.”


	10. Chapter 10

Negan felt the spot beside him in bed. It wasn’t warm like he expected it to be. And it meant Amelia was gone. He opened one eye cautiously, assuming that she’d bolted again. Not that he’d blame her really. 

Yesterday and last night had been a whirlwind of sex and emotional revelations. One right after the other. Granted, they had also somehow managed to get some work done, but not a lot. Most of the day had been spent putting out the fires her fake rewrite had caused, but Negan knew it was worth it for where they ended up. 

For one thing, she'd spent the night sprawled out across his chest. Of course, all this did was make him release how hopeless he was because he needed her there when he woke up too. Not wanted. Needed. It was only fair, he reasoned, because regardless he was screwed, and he wasn’t even sure if he cared who knew either.

She had a different take on the matter and had said she didn't want anyone to know. He also understood that, but since they'd hung out all night in his trailer, and hadn't exactly hide that fact, he found it counterintuitive to her plan. But he wasn’t about to say something and point it out. He wasn’t that kind of stupid. She was the kind of woman you had to tread lightly around. She had trust issues, something else they'd gone over in the wee hours of the morning. He didn't want to mess it up. That's all he knew right now.

That and he wanted to be back inside her as soon as possible. 

He rubbed his hands over his face once, trying to wake himself up, feeling around on the makeshift nightstand for his phone. Then he heard it. Someone was in his kitchenette not four feet from him. His eyes popped open and then a huge smile spread when he saw her. 

There, in all her glory, was Ms. Amelia Henry, and she was cooking _**him**_ breakfast. The best part, though, was the fact that was only wearing one of his t-shirts and it was currently barely covering her ass cheeks. 

Before he could stop himself, he groaned loudly at the sight and rubbed himself over the top of the sheet. She whipped her head in his direction when she heard him, the most beautiful crimson shade of blush creeping across her body at the idea of being caught. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse. “Did I wake you up?”

“Get back in bed,” he whined, ignoring her question entirely. “I’m cold.”

She rolled her yes and turned off the small stove. “This is L.A., Negan. It’s not cold here,” she argued. 

“Amelia?”

“Negan, hush,” she retorted. “I’m making us breakfast. I’m starving. And I’m trying to be nice over here, so don’t ruin it. I know you don’t know me very well, but this is a big deal, okay?”

He chuckled. “Pretty please?”

“Oh, what’s that now?” she asked, turning to face him slowly and then stauntering forward. 

“Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top, baby.”

“I think…” she started, kneeling on the edge of the bed and creeping closer still, “you need to beg for it. I’m still pretty sore from last night.”

“Really now?” he smirked, settling further into his pillow and licking his lips. 

She nodded and bent down until her lips were next to his ear, straddling his hips. “Yes, sir. I think you do.”

The strangled noise that left his mouth next was like nothing he could rationally describe. It was low, rough, and visceral. All things he now associated with this glorious woman sitting on top of him, completely and utterly in control. 

“Baby,” he groaned. “God, please.”

“Please, what?” she asked, sitting back on her heels and peeling the shirt off. 

She didn’t wait for him to respond as she took his hands off her hips and put them on her swaying breasts. He cupped them instinctively and began to squeeze her nipple between his fingertips, eliciting a wave of rolling moans from her too. 

“Oh, fuck, Amelia. Let me move this damn sheet, baby.”

“No,” she said, looking down at him and pouting. “I wanna tease you.”

“Tease me later. I’m gonna explode here in a second.”

“That’s the point,” she countered. 

She winked at him as a deep growl started to build in his chest, then she threw her head back and started to grind against him harder. He wasn’t going to last like this. Not when he could feel her juices dripping onto the sheet between them. And not with her pushing all his damn buttons. 

So he did the only thing he could think of and flipped them both until she was on her back. Amelia gasped quietly at the sudden movement, but the look she was giving him told Negan she wasn’t upset by him taking charge either. He hadn’t tested it yet, but he was pretty sure this was the only place he was allowed to do that. He figured he should probably take advantage of it. 

Which was why, instead of moving to her mouth, like she expected, he kissed a line along her jaw and then down her neck and chest, making sure to move in at an excruciatingly slow pace. And he wasn't sure who it was worse for either. He wanted to taste her. Last night hadn’t been enough. It would never be enough. 

As she caught on to what his end goal was finally, she tried to get him to stop. He, however, had no intention of doing that because he wanted to make this last. Once they left the little bubble of his trailer, he had no idea where they went next and he wasn’t sure if it was going to be good. This might be the last time, for all he knew, and he couldn’t chance it. He had to make it count.

“Amelia, open your fucking legs,” he ordered finally. 

“No,” she replied just as sharply. 

“Now,” he growled. 

She went to open her mouth again in protest, but was interrupted by him simply sliding a finger up and down her exposed slit. Her legs might be closed, but that beautiful pussy was on full display. She was only delaying the inevitable here. 

The second he touched the sensitive skin, her legs naturally fell open and he chuckled to himself as a low moan issued from her gorgeous lips. Not wanting to waste another second, he slowly pushed a digit inside of her. He heard a muffled scream next, one that made him smile, and he looked up to see a pillow over her face. 

It was futile, but it was cute that she was trying. 

Her legs were trembling and her arousal was dripping all over his hand by the time he inched forward to suck gently on her clit a few minutes later. It was hard not to be impressed with himself over it either. This was Amelia and right now he had his head between her legs and she was at his mercy. 

“Fuck, Negan,” she whispered suddenly, the pillow discarded. “I’m gonna cum.”

“Let go, baby. I got you. Daddy’s got you.” 

Her whole body stilled when he said the words and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud at her reaction. 

“I’m sorry, baby. I had to.”

“It’s not funny, asshole,” she grumbled. “Now I don’t even think I can finish.”

“Right,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

She may not have meant it as a challenge, but he certainly took it that way and was happy to see how wrong he could make her. He pressed his fingers inside her again, curling them up until he was stroking her g-spot gently. And, just like he anticipated, she was a writhing mess in no time, forcing him to all but hold down her hips as he continued to lap up everything she gave him. 

He knew he should remind her of their agreement from last night and tell her to be quiet as her back arched off the bed and she cried out into the small space, but he didn’t want to. He loved the sounds she made. It made him feel things about himself he didn’t know were there and he wasn't about to stop. 

Negan had been with plenty of women, but none of them were Ms. Henry. None of them made him feel like he’d accomplished something remarkable and didn’t deserve a second of it all at once. Everything about what was happening right now still seemed impossible and he wasn’t sure how to reconcile it. 

Since he was so wrapped up in the shit running through his head, he was surprised when her legs clamped down on him. A universal signal from women everywhere that said they were close, so he slowed down. He wanted her to let her really feel it, truly enjoy herself. A moment of bliss that she’d most certainly earned for putting up with his bulllshit. 

When her legs relaxed again, he allowed his tongue to slow to a luxurious speed, dragging out her pleasure as long as possible. In all honesty, it was for him too. He could’ve stayed there all day, but he figured with her work ethic she wouldn’t be able to stand that. 

“Okay,” he said wistfully after another quiet second, “let’s get ready for work, huh?” 

“Oh, hell no,” she scolded. “You better fuck me right now.”

“I thought you were sore,” he teased. 

“I am, but…”

“What happens if I say no?” he interrupted. 

“I’ll… I’ll never have sex with you again,” she answered, crossing her arms over her bare chest. 

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning at the adorable sight in front of him. She was trying to be a badass, and if they were working, he’d buy it, but not right now. For once, he was on a more equal footing with her. Not totally equal. He wasn’t crazy, after all, but he stood a chance in here.

“Uh-huh, well, I think I’ll take my chances.”

She poked her lip out and then a smirk spread slowly as she reached down and pulled him up until their noses were almost touching. She wasted no time in pulling him down for a kiss. 

“You really wanna say no to me?” she whispered against his lips. 

“No ma’am,” he answered truthfully. 

She giggled to herself at his enthusiasm as he fought with the sheet again, now wrapped tightly around his waist and separating them once more. Of course, it faded into more a moan as he plunged into her. 

“Oh, my good fucking God, woman,” he exclaimed. “I can’t… I don’t…” 

Apparently, this is what happened when he was inside her. And it’d been like this last night too. He was basically inchorent when they were connected. The first time, she’d teased him about it. She’d even threatened to use it against him, like blackmail, if he got too mouthy on set, but knowing that ahead of time wouldn't have changed anything. 

“Holy hell,” she swore loudly. “Right there, Negan. Right there. Please… oh, fuck me. God, I’m so wet.”

“Who makes you wet, baby?”

“You do. Only you, Negan,” she promised, breathing heavily. 

She reached around and scraped her nails down his back, leaving long scratches in her wake, and dug her heels into his backside next, forcing him even deeper. Just as they got into a rhythm and their bodies were moving in sync, she threw him another curveball and began to roll her hips. 

“Ugh, fuck. Amelia, baby, cum with me.”

He reached between them and rubbed small circles with his thumb on her sensitive and throbbing clit, knowing he wasn’t going to last more than a few more seconds. She screamed out his name several times, almost making her hoarse again. And that’s all it took. He was emptying himself inside her without another thought, his grunts almost matching her screams in volume. 

If there was anyone in a two-mile radius, they’d definitely be able to hear them, but Negan didn’t fucking care. No right now. Not as he struggled to keep himself up on his elbows so he didn’t crush her. Not while he was concentrating on the feeling of being completely enveloped by her. 

As he rolled off finally, he pulled her across his chest. She snuggled further into his side, letting out a gentle sigh. 

“Breakfast is cold,” she announced quietly. 

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. “Let’s go get something.”

“We can’t,” she reminded him.

“Fine, I’ll go get it.”

“You have to get to wardrobe,” she pointed out. “And it’s gonna look weird if you only bring me something back. Especially when we have food here.”

“You just said it was cold.”

“No, not that. Catering. On set.”

“Come on,” he complained, “don’t be like that.”

“Like what?” she asked innocently. 

“All work and no play,” he answered. 

“Makes Amelia a dull girl?” she finished for him. 

“Exactly.”

She sighed again, but this time it was something more like exasperation. “We talked about this last night, Negan. You agreed.”

“Uh, no I did not,” he retorted. 

“We have to go to work and behave,” she said, not directly addressing his last comment.

“And I really can’t touch you out there?” he quipped. 

“Negan. Please. Don’t do that.”

“I’m just teasin’, darlin’. I get it,” he lied. “I’ll just daydream about you telling me how good I feel.”

“It’s gonna be a little awkward when you pop a boner in one of your scenes with Maggie, don’t ya think?”

“It’d be more realistic,” he asserted. 

“Excuse me?” she shrieked, leaning back until she could look into his eyes. 

“I’d be thinkin’ about you,” he said, moving a piece of hair out of her face. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“Try it,” she threatened menacingly. “Dare you.”

He laughed heartily at that. “Oh, come on, baby. Don’t get jealous. You know I don’t want nobody else.”

“Good,” she said, cuddling back into his side. “But we really do have to go.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, wrapping his arms around her tighter. 

She didn’t fight the movement, so he figured she wasn’t that committed to the idea of getting out of bed just yet. But the universe had other plans. Like always. 

Virginia knocked once on his trailer door before coming inside, her hands over her eyes. Negan shook his head and laughed quietly as she felt around and then left a bag of fast food on the faux granite there. 

“Get up, lazy assholes,” she commanded as she walked out. “We got work to do.”

“No,” Amelia whimpered. “Can’t I just call in sick?”

Virginia was almost off the last step when she replied. “Negan, I don’t know what you did, but I think you broke our girl’s brain.”

_Our girl_, Negan thought. _Hmm… That doesn’t sound so bad._

“Whatever,” Amelia grumbled. “I hate you both. I’m taking a shower.”

She pulled the sheet up with her as she stood suddenly, leaving him completely nude on the bed. He reached out before she was too far away and pulled her back down to give her a quick kiss before she rushed off, resigning himself to a very lonely afternoon.


End file.
